Big Ten Conference announces mid-season volleyball challenge

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The Big Ten Conference on Wednesday announced a new in-season volleyball challenge.

The inaugural Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge will debut during the 2025 regular season conference schedule starting Oct. 1, encompassing all 18 Big Ten programs.

Only select conference matches during the month of October will count towards the challenge, according to the conference.

Each team will have five matches count toward their point total, with the winner determined by the highest win total across those five games.

Nebraska’s five matches include: Penn State (Oct. 3), Washington (Oct. 10), Michigan State (Oct. 17), Northwestern (Oct. 24) and Wisconsin (Oct. 31).

CHALLENGE FORMAT

All weekday matches in the month of October — weeks 2-6 of the conference schedule — will count towards the challenge

• Weekday is defined as Wednesday through Friday
• Start date – Wednesday, Oct. 1
• End date – Friday, Oct. 31

TIEBREAKER PROCEDURES

If two teams are tied at the end of the challenge:

• Head-to-head results (challenge matches only)
• If a tie still exists, winning percentage against common opponents (challenge matches only)
• If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total sets won during challenge matches
• If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total points won during challenge matches among the group
• If a tie still exists, the team with the highest ranking among the group in the latest published NCAA Women’s Volleyball RPI will be declared the winner

If three or more teams are tied:

• Head-to-head results among the group (challenge matches only)
• If a tie still exists, winning percentage against common opponents (challenge matches only)
• If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total sets won during challenge matches among the group
• If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total points won during challenge matches among the group
• If a tie still exists, the team with the highest ranking among the group in the latest published NCAA Women’s Volleyball RPI will be declared the winner