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2026 Big Ten Volleyball Power Rankings: All 18 Teams Earned a Win in Week 3

All 18 Big Ten volleyball teams picked up at least one win during the penultimate week of non-conference play. Here’s where every team stands heading into Week 4.
Abbie Harris|
Sep 6, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; The Nebraska Cornhuskers react as the match is paused against the Missouri Tigers at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
Sep 6, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; The Nebraska Cornhuskers react as the match is paused against the Missouri Tigers at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Big Ten volleyball had a strong third week, going 46-8, including a 6-4 record against opponents who are ranked or receiving votes in the most recent AVCA poll.

Sixteen of the 18 teams contributed to the 30 sweeps on the week. Every team in the Big Ten had at least one win this week, and none had a losing record.

Utilizing records, wins, NCAA stats, EVOLLVE stats, and the old-fashioned eye test, check out how each Big Ten team ranks moving into the final full week of non-conference play.

No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-0, AVCA No. 1)

Previous Position: No. 1 (No Change)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. New Mexico, 3-0 vs. No. 18 Baylor, 3-1 vs. Georgia Tech (RV)

Nebraska started its match against New Mexico with a 10-0 run behind Bergen Reilly at the service line and never looked back.

The Huskers hit .356 and held the Lobos to .046, led by sophomore middle blocker and this week’s Big Ten Player of the Week Manaia Ogbechie and sophomore outside hitter Teraya Sigler’s nine kills each.

No. 18 Baylor pushed Nebraska in their match and was the first team to score more than 20 points in a set against the Huskers, doing so in the second and third sets. But it was the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets who handed Nebraska its first set loss of the season, winning the first set 26-24, before the Huskers stormed back to close out the weekend with a third win.

Dropping a single set against a team receiving the most votes not in the top 25 in the most recent poll wasn’t enough to move the Huskers from their top spot. They are still the number one team in the country in terms of percentage of points won (59.0) and sideout percentage (70.9).

This season, NU is hitting .330, fifth in the NCAA and second in the B1G. The Huskers are holding opponents to an NCAA-best and Big Ten-best .101. Over the past week, specifically, Nebraska hit .330 and held their opponents to .138. NU averaged 30 digs per game, up three from their season average.

Up Next: No. 20 Creighton, No. 25 North Carolina, Florida Gulf Coast

No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (4-4, AVCA No. 6)

Previous Position: No. 2 (No Change)
Last Week: 3-2 vs. No. 15 Texas A&M, 1-3 vs. No. 7 Texas

Wisconsin had a bit of an up-and-down weekend in Texas, outlasting Texas A&M in five close sets and ultimately falling to Texas after a dominant first set.

The Badgers went down early to the Aggies, but both teams were equally matched through the last four sets thanks to setter Charlie Fuerbringer’s 21st career double-double (43 assists, 19 digs). She was also two kills away from Wisconsin’s first triple-double in fifteen years.

Decelise Champion, the highly touted outside hitter from the Puerto Rican National Team, made her official collegiate debut late in the set and was an instant game-changer for the Badgers.

Against Texas, Wisconsin got off to a hot start in the first set but was unable to handle the Longhorn offense and service pressure.

Wisconsin came back down to earth this week after last week’s top-10 win against Florida. The Badgers are still second in the conference because they have the best win within the Big Ten with their early win over No. 3 Louisville, but they showed clear struggles against both Texas teams they played this week.

Having the No. 1 strength of schedule is currently keeping them barely ahead of their Big Ten opponents. Wisconsin wins when their serve-receive-to-attacking percentage is 60 percent or greater (the exception being against Louisville, where their serve-receive hitting percentage was 58.8 and when their team hitting percentage is above .210.

Up Next: Marquette, Milwaukee

No. 3: Purdue Boilermakers (5-2, AVCA No. 11)

Previous Position: No. 4 (+1)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. IU Indy, 3-0 vs. Houston, 3-0 vs. No. 5 SMU

Welcome back, Grace Heaney. After tweaking her ankle in the first match of the season, it took Heaney and the Boilermakers some time to regain their footing in the Big Ten.

Purdue absolutely dominated IU Indy, giving up a total of 35 points, setting the tone for the week. Down in the Bahamas, Purdue swept Houston, becoming the first team to win an NCAA match played outside the United States, and No. 5 SMU, who had just taken down No. 3 Kentucky the day before.

But the Boilermakers were a complete team this week. They out-aced their opponents, 17-12. Heaney posted her season-best .339 hitting percentage (before this weekend, her hitting percentage was .082), and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week middle blocker Dior Charles had 15 blocks, averaging 1.88 per set, which is good for fourth in the nation.

This is the Purdue volleyball team head coach Dave Shondell knew he had and knew could compete with anyone in the Big Ten.

Would Purdue have beaten Creighton and TCU if Heaney had been fully back in those matches? It’s hard to know. The Boilermakers need to continue working on their serve-receive. In the games they’ve won, their serve-receiving attacking efficiency is at 57 percent (SMU is the lone exception at only 54 percent, their season low).

If the Boilermakers can continue to play at this level, they could make a push for that number two and potentially number one spot in the conference.

Up Next: UAlbany, UCF

No. 4: Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-2, AVCA 14)

Previous Position: 3 (-1)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Miami (FL), 3-0 vs. St. Thomas

Minnesota cruised to a 3-0 dominating win over Miami (Fla.) in its home opener, hitting .373 behind the trio of outside hitter Kelly Kinney’s nine kills, .300 hitting efficiency, opposite Carly Gilk’s eight kills, .467 efficiency, and McKenna Wucherer’s eight kills, .318 hitting efficiency.

The Gophers also swept the St. Thomas Tommies, though in a closer match than many expected. This week, Minnesota had its most efficient offensive performance, hitting an average of .359, and an efficient defense, holding its opponents to .091

Despite sweeping opponents, Minnesota fell a spot in this week’s poll purely due to Purdue’s dominance over a ranked team. Like other teams before, the Gophers were a bit of a victim of their schedule.

McKenna Wucher has come back from her injury stronger than ever before, averaging 4.80 kills per set, a team high and her highest of any season. Wucher also has 17 aces so far this season, which is the highest on the team and higher than any of her prior seasons.

Up Next: South Dakota, South Dakota State

No. 5: Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1, AVCA No. 9)

Previous Position: 7 (+2)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. DePaul, 3-0 vs. No. 8 Stanford, 3-0 vs. Ohio

Welcome to the top five, Penn State! The Nittany Lions bounced back from their match at Wrigley Field to sweep a DePaul team that is poised to challenge for the top of the Big East, off the heavy arm of Texas outside hitter transfer Whitney Launstein’s match-high 16 kills and .333 hitting percentage.

Penn State got its second big test of the season in a top-10 matchup against the Stanford Cardinal. Neither team played particularly well in that match, but the Nittany Lions were able to take advantage of Cardinal mistakes, and opposite Kennedy Martin notched her first double-double of the season (14 kills, 13 digs) and the 22nd of her career.

Penn State closed its week with a clean sweep over Ohio.

The new Penn State players, Florida transfer setter Alexis Stucky, Launstein, Pitt transfer middle blocker Ryla Jones, and Big Ten Freshman of the Week outside Haley Burgdorf, all stepped up at different times during the week, relieving pressure off Martin.

Penn State still needs someone to be a more consistent second arm. Martin is currently averaging 3.52 kills per set, with Launstein coming in second at 3.25. When Penn State wins, they are siding out at a rate greater than 58 percent (with an exception being High Point early in the season) and keeping their opponents’ side-out rate at 56 percent or less.

Up Next: Villanova, South Florida, No. 16 Tennessee

No. 6: Indiana Hoosiers (5-2, AVCA No. 21)

Previous Position: 6 (-1)
Last Week: 3-1 vs. Southern Indiana, 3-0 vs. Cal Poly (RV), 3-0 vs. Eastern Illinois
Up Next: Coastal Carolina, NC State

No. 7: USC Spartans (4-3, AVCA No. 19)

Previous Position: 5 (-2)
Last Week: 3-1 vs. USC, 1-3 vs. No. 17 Colorado, 3-0 vs. Oregon State
Up Next: UC Davis, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara

No. 8: Michigan State Spartans (8-0, AVCA RV)

Previous Position: 10 (+2)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Western Michigan 3-0 vs. Cincinnati, 3-0 vs. Morehead State
Up Next: Oakland, Drake, Wright State

No. 9: Washington Huskies (7-0)

Previous Position: 9 (same)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Lipscomb, 3-1 vs. Washington State
Up Next: South Dakota State, South Dakota

No. 10: Oregon Ducks (7-1, AVCA No. 23)

Previous Position: 8 (-2)
Last Week: 1-3 vs. No. Arizona State, 3-0 vs. UC Davis, 3-1 vs. San Diego
Up Next: Portland State, Oregon State

No. 11: UCLA (6-2, RV)

Previous Position: 11 (same)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Utah State, 2-3 vs. No. 24 BYU, 3-1 vs. Utah
Up Next: Iowa State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Hawaii

No. 12: Michigan Wolverines (6-2)

Previous Position: 12 (same)
Last Week: 1-3 vs. No. TCU, 3-0 vs. South Florida
Up Next: Eastern Michigan, Cornell (x2)

No. 13: Maryland Terrapins (7-1)

Previous Position: 15 (+2)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. George Mason, 3-0 vs. Seton Hall, 3-0 vs. Princeton, 3-0 vs. St. Peters
Up Next: Campbell, East Carolina, Old Dominion

No. 14: Rutgers Scarlett Knights (7-2)

Previous Position: 16 (+2)
Last Week: 3-1 vs. LIU, 3-0 vs. Stony Brook, 3-1 vs. Delaware, 3-0 vs. Rider
Up Next: Bryant, Penn, St. John’s

No. 15: Iowa Hawkeyes (6-3)

Previous Position: 14 (-1)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Iowa State, 3-1 vs. Southern Illinois, 3-1 vs. Incarnate World, 1-3 vs. Missouri State
Up Next: Drake, West Florida, Texas Tech, Central Arkansas

No. 16: Illinois Fighting Illini (5-3)

Previous Position: 13 (-3)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Lindenwood, 0-3 vs. Marquette, 3-2 vs. Marquette
Up Next: Eastern Illinoi, Arkansas, Arkansas State

No. 17: Ohio State Buckeyes (5-3)

Previous Position: 18 (+1)
Last Week: 3-2 vs. Winthrop, 3-1 vs. Southern Indiana, 3-2 vs. Youngstown State
Up Next: Virginia (x2)

No. 18: Northwestern (5-4)

Previous Position: 17 (-1)
Last Week: 3-1 vs. Butler, 3-0 vs. Virginia Tech, 3-0 vs. LIU, 2-3 vs. Green Bay
Up Next: Ball State, IU Indy

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Abbie Harris
ABBIE HARRIS

Abbie Harris has been talking about women's sports to anyone who would listen, and sometimes to those who wouldn't, for as long as she can remember. She has been the host of a weekly Nebraska women's sports podcast for over a year, primarily covering volleyball, women's basketball, and softball. Harris holds three degrees, including a Ph.D. from Saint Louis.

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