Big Ten Volleyball Tournament Set to Debut in 2026: Can Iowa Get In?

The Big Ten Conference has announced the introduction of a Big Ten Volleyball Tournament to debut in 2026.

Had the tournament occurred in 2025, the Iowa Hawkeyes would have made the cut but been one of the lowest-seeded teams.

Iowa returns 13 members of its 2025 team that won 15 matches — finishing 15-17 overall and 6-14 in the Big Ten — which marked the best in program history since 2016.

The Hawkeyes concluded the year coming in at exactly No. 15 in the Big Ten standings, with the top 15 teams in the Big Ten to qualify for this new postseason tournament.

Big Ten Volleyball Tournament Key Takeaways

Iowa would've just snuck into a Big Ten Tournament had there been one last year.
Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Indiana, will be the host of the inaugural tournament.
The tournament will begin on Friday, Nov. 20. Three matches will be played in the opening round of the tournament, followed by four second-round matches.
The competition will then progress through the quarterfinals and semifinals, with the championship on Wednesday, Nov. 25 — with one off day also built in to spread it out a bit.

Going forward, the regular season conference schedule (to feature a single round-robin format) will now be reduced from 20 matches to 17.

In turn, this puts more of a priority on the conference tournament — further motivating fans to tune in and/or attend in order to get their taste for the sport satisfied prior to the conclusion of the season.

One Floor. Whatever it takes. 🏐🏆

The Inaugural @B1GVolleyball Tournament. Coming in November.

🎙️ @emilyehman pic.twitter.com/4JWcU1qSt0
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) April 16, 2026

Commissioner Tony Petitti said the tournament will bring together the top talent across the nation for the sport, implying it was implemented with the fans in mind.

“For the first time in its history, the Big Ten Conference will determine its volleyball champion with a postseason tournament featuring the best volleyball teams in the country,” said Petitti per the Iowa media release.

“We look forward to bringing the nation’s top talent together for an entire week of exhilarating competition culminating in the crowning of the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament Champion.”

This brings Iowa and Big Ten fans to the forefront — as the announcement of the Big Ten Volleyball Tournament comes as this particular conference continues to be the most popular in the country in terms of attendance, leading Division I attendance rankings in every season since 2007, as the volleyball matches routinely attract some of the largest crowds across the collegiate sport.

The 2026 volleyball season is slated to begin with the Fifth Annual Big Ten Volleyball Media Day on August 3 in Chicago. The slate will additionally include the first Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week, to conclude in a doubleheader at Wrigley Field on Sunday, Sept. 6.

Key Iowa Insights Into the Big Ten Women's Volleyball Team

The Hawkeyes welcome four newcomers, consisting of transfers Liv Mogridge and Ksenija Tomic, in addition to freshmen Nikolija Bulatovic and Henlee Moszkowicz.

The addition of Moszkowicz to the squad comes as the Texas native was a 2025 USA Volleyball Junior National Champion.

Head coach Jim Barnes enters his fifth season leading the program and was originally selected as the 11th head coach in program history on December 28, 2021.

Now, conference volleyball fans will have to continue to show up and show out for the tournament.

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