• Conference play opens this weekend with all 14 teams in action. Five matches will be carried on BTN or ESPN, with the remaining matches streaming on BTN Plus.
• Six Big Ten programs earned spots in the latest AVCA coaches poll, with three teams ranked among the top 10: No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 13 Purdue, No. 14 Nebraska and No. 20 Michigan. Illinois, Maryland and Michigan State are all receiving votes.
• Since the 2012 season, four Big Ten schools have been ranked No. 1 in the AVCA coaches poll a total of 43 weeks: Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin. During that span, the Nittany Lions have earned the top spot 21 times.
• In the first four of weeks non-conference of play, the Big Ten has amassed a 128-27 combined record, a winning percentage of .826.
• Big Ten teams currently occupy four of the top 10 positions on the national team hitting percentage list, including the top three spots. Penn State leads the country with a .360 hitting percentage, followed by Purdue (.353) in second and Wisconsin (.347) in third. Illinois rounds out the list at ninth in the NCAA, boasting a .301 team hitting percentage.
• Penn State’s Abby Detering is one of five standouts in the NCAA this season to record a triple-double. In the Nittany Lions’ 3-1 victory over then top-ranked Stanford on Sept. 1, Detering posted 23 assists, while adding 11 kills and 10 digs.
• Michigan State head coach Cathy George earned her 600th career win on Sept. 1. George became the third Big Ten head coach to amass 600 wins, joining Penn State’s Russ Rose (1,223) and Nebraska’s John Cook (636). Rose ranks second among active Division I coaches in career victories, while Cook and George rank 15th and 19th, respectively.
• Big Ten students currently occupy five of the top 10 spots nationally in hitting percentage, including three of the top five. Penn State’s Academic All-American Haleigh Washington leads the Big Ten and the nation with a .534 hitting percentage, while Maryland’s Hailey Murray, a 2016 Academic All-Big Ten selection, ranks third, hitting at a clip of .506. Wisconsin’s Dana Rettke ranks fifth (.479), Illinois’ Academic All-Big Ten honoree Ali Bastianelli is sixth (.476), and Wisconsin’s Tionna Williams rounds out the list at eighth nationally with a mark of .475.
• Based on average attendance, the Big Ten currently has five of the nation’s top 10 teams. Nebraska leads the nation, averaging 8,085 fans per contest, Wisconsin is third with 5,927, Minnesota is fourth at 4,695, Penn State is sixth with 3,405, while Illinois checks in at No. 7 with 3,311 patrons per contest.
• The 2017 Big Ten volleyball television package features 36 contests, with 31 of those matches airing live on BTN, and highlighted by 10 doubleheaders. Five other matches will be carried live on ESPN network, including a Sept. 24 doubleheader on ESPN when Michigan State visits Minnesota (1 p.m. ET) and Michigan travels to Wisconsin (3 p.m. ET).
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