NCAA Women
August 6, 2024
CHICAGO — The biggest storyline of the 2024 Big Ten season wasn’t even in the building on Monday as the conference had the first of two media days.
At the third annual Big Ten Volleyball Media Days, most of the coaches were asked about the four newcomers to the league: Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington. Their addition stretches the conference to both coasts of the country and complicates schedules and travel.
Those four new schools will meet the media here on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be new for everyone. It’s the first year, so there’s going to be a learning curve,” Rutgers coach Caitlin Schweihofer said.
Each Big Ten school will play each West Coast team once this year. Central and Eastern Time Zone schools will either travel to play Oregon and Washington or spend a weekend in Los Angeles taking on UCLA and USC. They will host the two schools they do not travel to.
Michigan State coach Leah Johnson doesn’t view the travel as an obstacle but as just another road trip. Because the Spartans haven’t played the new members before, they will treat those matches more like nonconference opponents and learn about their different styles.
“We’ll play that game in that moment in that time zone in that city in that state, and then we’ll do it again,” she said. “If we can keep things normal like that — and don’t get me wrong, we’re going to go sightsee a little bit and we’re going to make the most of it because that’s what we do in our program.”
Schweihofer said she isn’t worried about the additional travel despite being on the opposite coast. She has never been to Oregon so she talked to a friend that coaches at Oregon State about travel tips to the Pacific Northwest. With Rugers’s proximity to the Newark airport flights shouldn’t be too taxing.
“I think our players are excited about it,” she said. “Obviously, USC and UCLA are coming and playing in New Jersey, so that’s going to be their challenge. Big Ten travel is tough whenever. Oregon might be easier to get to than Lincoln, Nebraska, or who knows. But we’ll find out this year.”
The newcomers will present plenty of challenges on the court too. UCLA, USC and Washington have won a combined eight national championships and Oregon has qualified for 16 of the last 18 NCAA tournaments.
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said he’s looking forward to playing at UCLA.
“There’s not too many places in my career I’ve not competed at. That’s one of them,” he said. “I’m excited to go back to those other three programs because they’re awfully talented with some really good young coaches leading the way.”
Illinois coach Chris Tamas said the hard part about the new schedule is the lack of double plays. This season, each school only plays three teams twice. The timing of the matches might matter more as teams develop their identity and deal with injuries and other forms of adversity.
Tamas said he isn’t worried about the travel despite the longer flights. The more challenging part is adding even more quality teams into a deep conference.
“A couple of trips might be a little bit tougher than the other ones, but it’s going to be relatively the same,” he said. “During the season you’re always trying to figure out, how much can I practice, how much do we need to rest, how much do we need to recover to get ready for the next big-time matches.”
The two Los Angeles schools will travel to Maryland this year and Terps coach Adam Hughes invited them to take a tour of nearby Washington, D.C., which many teams have done if they have an off-day before playing Maryland.
“They should all do a full-day tour outside in the sun, outside all day walking around,” he said. “There’s been a history of teams that have done that and then lost to us. We would ask all of them to come in here and do a tour of D.C.”
Big Ten features 83 national TV matches
The conference announced its national television schedule with a new high of 83 matches on four networks. The usual channels of Big Ten Network, FOX and FS1 will carry a large portion of the schedule, but this year matches will also be aired on NBC and Peacock for the first time.
NBC will air three matches on Saturday afternoons starting with Nebraska at Ohio State on Oct. 19. The other two matches will be Purdue hosting Wisconsin on Oct. 26 at Mackey Arena, while Penn State at Wisconsin on Nov. 9. All the games will start at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Badgers will also feature on the other two network games as part of the College Volleyball Showcase. UW will play Texas on Sept. 1 and Stanford the following day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Minnesota will also play in the event and play the teams on opposite days with both matches carried on FS1.
BTN will carry 68 matches with all 18 schools making at least one appearance. The TV schedule kicks off with newcomer Oregon hosting Pittsburgh on Aug. 30. The Oregon at UCLA match on Nov. 29 will be streamed on Peacock.
Nine teams Monday, nine more Tuesday
Here are highlights and top quotes from the nine teams that met with the media on Monday:
Iowa
2023 record, finish: 8-24, 0-20, 14th place
Coach Jim Barnes (472-390, 18-45 at Iowa), senior middle blocker Anna Davis McSweeney, senior outside hitter Michelle Urquart
“Part of it was bringing in and changing — when you’re building a house you don’t always see the restoration on the inside from the sidewalk. The inside is what we were really restoring, and I brought these two players with us to help teach people how to come to work every day, have a great attitude, and treat each other really well. That restoration has been going on for two years, and I think you’re really going to see some of what our team is really about this year. I think we’ve put things in place,” Barnes on the challenges he’s faced rebuilding Iowa in his three years at the school.
“I’m not going to lie, I go week by week by the itinerary that gets sent out. So I’m not even sure where we travel to other than Puerto Rico that’s coming up (to start the season). I’m going to be completely honest. But if we play Ohio State this year, I like their arena. Theirs is probably the best one to play in,” Urquart on what gym she is looking forward to playing in this year.
Northwestern
2023 record, finish: 15-15, 9-11, tied for eighth place
Coach Tim Nollan (120-92 career record, first year at Northwestern), graduate setter Alexa Rousseau, junior middle blocker Kennedy Hill
“Purple is fitting. Ironically my middle child said we could only change if we got to stay purple, so it worked out,” Nollan on if Northwestern’s school colors was one of the reasons he decided to leave Grand Canyon University.
“I committed to this university in 2017, so I’ve been a part and bought into this program and wanting to rebuild it and make the tournament since then, and I think every single year we’ve come a little bit closer since my freshman year,” Rousseau on dealing with expectations during a coaching transition.
Michigan
2023 record, finish: 7-22, 5-15, 12th place
Associate Head Coach Benavia Jenkins; (Head coach Erin Virtue is in Paris as an assistant on the USA women’s team at the Olympics), graduate outside hitter Allison Jacobs; junior middle blocker Serena Nyambio
“Hungry. We obviously didn’t have the season that we wanted last year, but we built a really great foundation in the spring, and I think we’re really hungry and excited to see how that translates into the fall,” Jacobs on one word to describe Michigan volleyball.
Illinois
2023 record, finish: 16-14, 11-9, tied for sixth place
Coach Chris Tamas (131-81 overall and at Illinois), graduate outside hitter Raina Terry; senior libero Caroline Barnes
“Last night, and lots of coffee and fine,” Tamas on when he returned from watching volleyball at the Paris Olympics and how he is feeling.
“A nasty float serve is going to be harder than anything else in my opinion. You never know where it’s going. It has a lot of movement. We have a lot of players in our conference who — Raina included — who have honed that skill a lot. Definitely a lot of pressure,” Barnes on the toughest serve to handle.
Wisconsin
2023 record, finish: 30-4, 17-3, second place
Coach Kelly Sheffield 537-169 overall, 264-57 at Wisconsin), graduate outside hitter Sarah Franklin, senior middle blocker/right side Devyn Robinson
“Seeing Dana in the Olympic jersey is really inspiring to me because I’ve looked up to here ever since before I even committed to Wisconsin. She’s a big reason why I came here, and to see her living out her dreams is just adding fuel to my fire to feel like I played with her, I know what she did to get to the spot that she’s at, and I can do those things, too,” Robinson on watching former Badger Dana Rettke in the Olympics.
“Every player kind of brings their own talent, their own musical instrument, if you will, to the party, but you’ve got to be playing the same song. Even though everybody has a different instrument. We’ve not always been playing the same song. When the margins are so thin, like they are in an elite conference like this, and it’s about ready to get gnarlier with these four West Coast teams coming in, you’d better handle adversity, and you’d better be singing the same song,” Sheffield on factors that will determine success this year.
Rutgers
2023 record, finish:10-29, 2-18, 13th place
Coach Caitlin Schweihofer (105-187 career record, 32-79 at Rutgers), junior setter Aly Borellis, sophomore middle blocker Zora Hardison
“If we can get players in a Rutgers volleyball jersey much earlier on than their junior year of high school, that interest is going to only grow the program. I’m excited about just — for first time ever I was walking through the mall and I saw someone in a Rutgers Volleyball shirt, and I asked to take their picture,” Schweihofer on growing Rutgers volleyball in the Northeast.
“It just came down to family environment, came down to the people, and I think New Jersey is a really great place to just have a college experience and just grow up there and kind of learn new things. Because it is definitely different from where I’m from. But overall it’s just a really great experience, and the people is what makes it for me…And on my visit my dad made her write out a whole little sheet of everything that I wanted. Shout out to my dad,” Borellis on her decision to transfer to Rutgers from Ole Miss.
Michigan State
2023 record, finish: 17-14, 9-11, tied for eighth place
Coach Leah Johnson Smith (214-183, 30-32), junior outside hitter Evie Doezema, junior outside hitter Taylor Preston
“That match has a special place in our heart just because it was such a well-fought battle on both sides. To come out on top against a ranked team like that as we’re building our program back up, it was surreal, and it just showed the amount of effort and work we’ve really put into this team and how much more we can accomplish this year. We’re hoping to do it a million times over again,” Doezema on beating Penn State last year 18-16 in the fifth set.
“It’s special to be able to be a parent and a coach. And there’s many, men and women alike, right, who are parents and who show up every day wearing multiple hats in their capacity.
“But there is something different about going through a pregnancy and going through a delivery and going through breastfeeding and going through sleepless nights as a mother. That has made this an exceptionally different kind of challenge as a parent because my time is not my own in those circumstances.
“Yet I still had to develop a program for maternity leave, I still had to develop a program while my baby is in NICU or I’m in the hospital for eight days because I have an emergency C-section. No one knows that. No one cares. But here’s the thing: they do when you recognize who matters.
“So they care, and that made me want to show up. So when I speak to young women who aspire to coach, you have to focus on who your circle is. The circle isn’t someone out there who thinks, oh, well, she won’t have time to do this, she’ll be distracted. Or also when you’re hiring assistants, well, they’re probably in their childbearing years so that could be a disadvantage.
“No one is saying it out loud but they’re thinking it. What I would say to young women, continue to persist. Persist and persist, because it’s hard and possible. It’s hard and exciting. It’s hard and an advantage. It’s not or. We have to take or out of the options. It is and and and and and, and these are some world class women who are going to go do huge things in their line of work whether it’s coaching or not,” Johnson on her message to females who want to get into the coaching world.
Penn State
2023 record, finish: 23-9, 15-5, tied for third place
Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley (174-163 career record, 49-17 at Penn State), graduate outside hitter Camryn Hannah, graduate outside hitter Jess Mruzik
“Jess has a smorgasbord of different tools in her tool kit, so I think learning from her, being able to watch her do things, I’m like, how does she do that, and then I ask her and she’ll tell me. It doesn’t have to be a competition all the time. We can learn from each other, and that’s the best environment to be in,” Hannah on what she admires about Mruzik.
“Izzy is a phenomenal player and I think she’s going to do great. But it’s always learning. It’s always a learning curve. Whether you’re a freshman or a senior, I think these guys are still learning some new things about the game. I thought she had a great spring. She did a really good job in the weight room this summer. I am looking forward to seeing what she is going to do,” Schumacher-Cawley on freshman setter Izzy Starck.
Maryland
2023 record, finish: 16-16, 7-13, tied for 10th place
Coach Adam Hughes, (88-92 career record and at Maryland), senior setter Zoe Huang, graduate Samantha Schnitta
“I’ve got three daughters and I’ve learned you can’t have a best daughter. You have a daughter for this, a daughter for that, a daughter for this,” Hughes said when asked who his best player is.
“Being a 5-foot-3 setter, it’s really hard for me to play at a super high competitive level. To be honest, being in the Big Ten, being able to compete at this level and see some of the best players in the country is probably my biggest achievement,” Huang on her biggest athletic accomplishment.
