All 14 Big Ten volleyball teams are in action this weekend with 20 matches being carried on either BTN Plus or BTN2Go.
• In the first three weeks of non-conference play, the Big Ten has amassed an 89-29 combined record for a winning percentage of .754.
• Based on average attendance, the Big Ten has five of the nation’s top 15 teams. Nebraska is No. 1 in attendance, averaging 8,249 fans per contest, while Wisconsin is third with 5,958 and Penn State checks in at No. 5 with 3,585 patrons. Michigan State ranks ninth at 2,329 and Purdue is 13th with 1,950 people per match.
• For the third straight week, Nebraska was the unanimous top-ranked team in the latest AVCA coaches poll. Seven other Big Ten programs are ranked in the poll: No. 3 Minnesota, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 14 Purdue, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 20 Penn State, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 23 Michigan. Illinois is receiving votes in the poll.
• Nebraska has posted a .338 hitting percentage this season, which ranks second in the NCAA. Indiana ranks sixth, hitting at a clip of .307.
• Nebraska is averaging 15.11 kills per set, good for third in the country. Minnesota is ninth with 14.50 kills per set.
• After an impressive weekend that saw Purdue’s Danielle Cuttino named Big Ten Player of the Week, Cuttino earned espnW National Player of the Week honors after leading the Boilermakers to a win over nationally-ranked Stanford.
• Maryland’s Ashlyn MacGregor ranks second in the country, averaging 1.91 blocks per set. Illinois’ Ali Bastianelli ranks fifth with 1.74 blocks per set while Wisconsin’s Tionna Williams (1.70 blocks per set) and Minnesota’s Hannah Tapp (1.68 blocks per set), the reigning Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week, rank seventh and ninth, respectively.
• Michigan’s Jenna Lerg, who earned Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors, ranks fifth nationally with 5.65 digs per set.
• Based on past opposition’s winning percentage, Minnesota has played the toughest schedule in the nation thus far. Purdue is ranked third while Wisconsin checks in at eighth and Nebraska ranks 10th.
• Minnesota currently leads the nation with 3.66 blocks per set. Wisconsin is fifth with 3.29 blocks per set, while Maryland checks in at ninth with 3.06.
Campbell University will serve a year of probation and vacate wins after self-reporting NCAA violations involving the eligibility of transfer students in 10 different sports. It’s not yet known whether volleyball is among them.
The issue was with how the school applied the NCAA’s “progress toward degree” legislation. Between 2010 and 2015, Campbell incorrectly allowed 34 student-athletes in 10 sports to compete while they should have been ineligible under NCAA rules. The school discovered the mistake during a 2014 audit by the NCAA and self-reported its violations. The NCAA’s final decision says the violations “were unintentional, limited in scope and represent a deviation from otherwise compliant practices by the institution.”
Still, the school will face a number of penalties. Campbell will be on probation with the NCAA from August 11, 2016 to August 10, 2017 and will pay a $5,000 fine. The baseball team was banned from 2016 postseason play, and certain sports will have wins vacated from periods when an athlete was in violation of the NCAA’s eligibility rules.
That mostly affects historic team records and coaching wins. Individual athletes who were eligible will not lose their individual honors (all-conference, All-America, etc.).
While the NCAA didn’t announce the 10 programs, many have been published in the media, including volleyball.
Other programs believed to be involved:
- Volleyball
- Football
- Men’s Basketball
- Baseball
- Men’s Soccer
- Women’s Swimming
- Wrestling
You can find the full NCAA infractions decision here.
The NCAA has announced it will move 7 of its major championship events out of the state of North Carolina in response to the controversial ‘bathroom bill’ that some criticize as discriminatory.
The NCAA released a statement announcing the moves on Monday. Per that statement:
Based on the NCAA’s commitment to fairness and inclusion, the Association will relocate all seven previously awarded championship events from North Carolina during the 2016-17 academic year. The NCAA Board of Governors made this decision because of the cumulative actions taken by the state concerning civil rights protections.
The following events have been moved for the coming school year:
No volleyball events will be affected, but if the NCAA continues to avoid the state, then North Carolina is unlikely to host any major NCAA volleyball tournaments in the near future.
The decision seems mostly based around the law HB2, which was signed into law earlier this year. The law deals with gender identity, and garnered national media attention as “the bathroom bill,” as it requires transgender people to use restrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificates in government buildings. On a broader scale, the law defines “biological sex” as “the physical condition of being male or female, which is stated on a person’s birth certificate.” That changes the scope of the state’s anti-discrimination law, which now protects from discrimination based on “biological sex” but does not mention transgender people.
