Big Ten media days: Optimism as school’s keep up with ever-changing volleyball

CHICAGO — The Big Ten volleyball coaches and student-athletes agreed that the sport’s future is bright, despite not knowing what exactly that will look like.

Even with so much uncertainty surrounding volleyball, including conference realignment, booming attendance and television numbers and the pending House settlement, everyone expressed optimism for its direction during Big Ten media days Tuesday.

“It’s on a rocket ship right now, all women’s sports. It’s pretty exciting to see,” Nebraska coach John Cook said.

College volleyball is coming off a season in which teams set records for viewership for the regular season and the championship match, which was broadcast on ABC as the most-watched match. Nebraska filled a football stadium with 92,003 people to watch a match last season, and Wisconsin attracted more than 17,000 people to a regular-season match.

This year is poised to build upon that momentum with a pair of early-season events. Nebraska and Wisconsin will play Kentucky and Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, site of December’s NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship.

Wisconsin and Minnesota will play Texas and Stanford at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Labor Day weekend, and the matches will be on FOX. In addition, NBC will broadcast its first college volleyball matches on its network, a trio of Big Ten matches on Saturday afternoons.

“Volleyball is growing a lot because it’s really easy to pick up on, and you might not need to know the sport at all. You can watch it. And you can realize how intense and exciting it gets when someone scores a point,” Minnesota junior Mckenna Mucherer said. “A lot of teams have been doing a lot to promote the sport… Those opportunities for us athletes are incredible. Just being in that atmosphere and seeing the fans celebrate for our sport is super exciting.”

Beyond the college game, the Professional Volleyball Federation finished its first season earlier this year, and a second professional league (League One Volleyball) launches in January.

Ohio State assistant coach Michelle Bartsch played with the Columbus Fury last season. OSU coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg said it was amazing for her players to see her working out with them in the morning and then play with the Fury in the evening.

“I think the connection with the Fury, but also both leagues are there with all of our connections that we have as a staff, and it’s just good. It’s good for the sport, and I’m excited to see the growth,” Oldenburg said.

The sport also hopes to build on the Olympics, with the USA in a position to add another medal. Two Big Ten coaches, Michigan’s Erin Virtue and UCLA’s Alfee Reft, could not be here because they are USA Olympics assistants. Two other coaches, Kelly Sheffield of Wisconsin and Chris Tamas of Illinois, just returned from Paris, where they watched their former players.

“The pride and joy that is just around for everybody—it was just such a great vibe,” Sheffield said. “I’m fired up for it to get to Los Angeles in four years. Hopefully, we’ll have some players, but if not, I can guarantee you that me and my family will be there.”

In the college game, roster management appeared to be headed to a more normal state as almost all players impacted by the 2020-21 COVID eligibility waiver are finishing their careers this season. However, the House lawsuit settlement could upend how coaches build teams.

The proposed settlement could permit direct compensation for student-athletes. In addition, it could set a roster limit of 18 but allow for scholarships to all team members.

Purdue coach Dave Shondell said the NCAA would likely need to figure out revenue sharing for football and basketball, but gender equality could mean that volleyball would benefit from the settlement. He said the Big Ten schools can stay up with the changes because of the league’s investment in volleyball.

“Being in the Big Ten puts you in a better position than a lot of conferences for that,” Shondell said. I know our administration is convinced that we’re going to be able to provide the funding that will be the cap, so I’m excited about that.

The settlement has yet to be finalized, but it could be as soon as early next year. However, coaches said they are having conversations to prepare for potential massive changes.

“Our administration is staying on top of it and keeping us educated as we continue to move forward,” Washington coach Leslie Gabriel said. “They’re willing to make sure that we’re supported in a way where we can compete with all the best schools.”

As volleyball continues to evolve, Minnesota coach Keegan Cook said he tries to stay nimble and adapt to the changes.

“Being flexible ” is probably the most important thing for the next five to 10 years, as we can see in college sports. If you’re not flexible, it’s going to be tough,” he said. “Things are changing quickly and you have to be okay with it. You have to transition quickly. I’m pretty confident in Minnesota, in the Big Ten, and even in the NCAA for the work they’re doing right now to make the situation better for volleyball.”

Hard-hitting questions

One of the highlights here was the inclusion of students from nearby Milton Brunson Math and Science Specialty Elementary School. They took turns asking the coaches and players questions.

The young reporters asked questions such as what professional athletes they looked up to, what hype music they listened to, if they ever felt like quitting and why coaches chose to work at their school. The players and coaches often had to pause to think of responses. When asked if he ever thought about quitting volleyball, Aird offered the students some words of wisdom to wrap up this time at the podium.

“My advice for you is on the other side of hard is always total joy, and you’ll get to a point in your career where you’ve got to make a decision and you’re like, man, this is really tough. If you can just get past that part, the other side of it is a lot of fun. I think these guys will tell you the same thing; these guys are in the one percent of one percent, but it takes a lot of hard work. Kind of what you guys are doing right now and learning more and being here when other people are maybe sleeping. It’s a pretty good move by y’all.”

The best of day 2

There were nine more teams Tuesday as the two-day event concluded. This is a list of who represented each school and what they had to say:

Indiana

2023 record, finish: 21-12, 11-9 tie for sixth place

Coach Steve Aird Smith (125-173 overall, 80-99 at Indiana), sophomore libero Ramsey Gary, graduate defensive specialist Delaynie Maple

“I got really comfortable in the sand and I kind of got to a point where I was feeling really good about my game, feeling really confident by the end of the season, and then two weeks later I was like Bambi again. I think it was really humbling, but probably one of the best things I could’ve done for myself,” Maple on her transition to playing indoors after winning four national titles and two first-team All-American honors with USC Beach.

“Lastly, we did not coordinate the outfits, but we do look good. Shout-out to Hot Sam’s in Detroit, Michigan, for my blazer,” Aird on the matching cream outfits for the Indiana delegation.

Purdue

2023 record, finish: 23-9 15-5, tie for third place

Coach Dave Shondell (458-226, 458-226), senior middle blocker Lourdès Myers, sophomore outside hitter Chloe Chicoine

“I’m just pleased that we’re at a point right now that we’re being considered for those things in a league full of teams that have unbelievable traditions. And we’ve worked hard over the course of time to get to this point. We have some exciting players. If we didn’t have the players we have, we wouldn’t be on NBC. We wouldn’t have 12 or 13 games on linear TV. So I think that’s a credit to our players and what they have done. The same with being in Mackey. You don’t go in Mackey unless you can get 14,000 people. We think we’ll get 14,000 people. We think Boilermaker Nation will thrive in that environment,” Shondell on the opportunity to play a match in Mackey Arena that will be shown on NBC

“I really enjoyed Indiana last year just because it was a rivalry game and it always is just so much fun. We blare their fight song in practices before to get us ready, which is super fun. I also like playing at Penn State because their student section is right on top of you,” Chicoine on her favorite places to play in the Big Ten.

UCLA

2023 record, finish: 18-12, 10-10, 6th in Pac 12

Associate Head Coach Amir Lugo-Rodriguez (Head Coach Alfee Reft  (18-12, 18-12) is a USA Olympics assistant coach), graduate middle blocker Anna Dodson, graduate setter Audrey Pak

“It hasn’t been too bad. I think we’re running on a lot of adrenaline and excitement, which I think will probably be how it is on the road. I think we’re just going to have a lot of gratitude for having such cool opportunities like this, that we might feel a little bit tired but I think the excitement overcomes that,” Pak on the challenges of starting their press conference before 8 a.m. Pacfic Time and adjusting to the time challenges in the season.

“We want to be creative. We want to be dynamic. A great word that Alfee uses is fierce. You watch our style of play and we play for arguably one of the best coaches in the world,” Lugo Rodriguez on the style of play UCLA brings to the Big Ten.

USC

2023 record, finish: 18-13, 12-8, fifth in Pac 12

Coach Brad Keller (63-47, 63-47), senior outside hitter Ally Batenhorst, senior setter Mia Tuaniga

“One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Imagination is more powerful than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.’ And why that means something to me is I want people that are willing to go for it all and have a big appetite. They dream. They are not afraid. They are go-getters… So, of course, I’m going to have those types of people up here talking to all of you because I want to you see, get a good visual of what my program is, and this is exactly the representation I want. So it was a really easy choice for me when it comes to having her,” Keller on why he chose to bring Batenhorst to Media Days despite her joining the program this summer.

“I’m not the biggest fan of that new rule. I think, personally, that there are certain plays in a game where if a setter goes and she doesn’t double, that’s showing how much time she puts into her craft. I’m not saying that people don’t put time in there; people do. But it’s like if we’re going to change the double rule and let doubles slide, what else are we going to let slide? What rule is going to come next, that lets us, well, we can do this too?” Tuaniga on the new double contact rule

Minnesota

2023 record, finish: 17-13, 12-8, fifth place

Coach Keegan Cook (215–69, 17-13), senior outside hitter/opposite Lydia Grote, junior outside hitter Mckenna Wucherer

“It’s the hardest thing is to know when to leave something, especially a team I intended to coach at Washington my entire life. I signed a new contract at Washington. I had players I loved coaching. But in some sense, I maybe thought I had stopped growing in that I had become a little too comfortable a little too soon. That’s not what it’s about. For you as a young person or for me as a less young person, we’re still growing. You have to put yourself in spaces that help you grow. That’s what Minnesota felt like to me. So I made the jump,” Cook on why he chose to leave Washington for Minnesota. .

“I was literally blown away. Is this even real life? I get to go home. Because never in my four years I would have thought I get to go home and play in my home state of Milwaukee. And we get to go to Green Bay and Madison; we get the whole Wisconsin tour this year. I’m so happy to be playing at home in front of my family and friends. My house is literally 15 minutes away from Fiserv. That’s a real insane experience. It reminds me of high school, like, I get to go home. We even got to play in Waterloo in spring. I feel like I’ve been on like my whole Wisconsin tour,” Wucherer, a Brookfield, Wisconsin native, upon learning they get to play two matches this season in Milwaukee.

Oregon

2023 record, finish: 29-6, 16-4, second in Pac 12

Coach Matt Ulmer (142-69, 142-69), senior outside hitter Delay McClellan, senior middle blocker Onya Ofoegbu

“I think we’re just super excited to introduce ourselves. Our whole culture, our whole — what we want people to see when they play us. We’re just very excited for our first year in Big Ten, and the competition obviously is going to be super, super high level. So we’re just very excited for our first year,” McClellan on what she’s looking forward to in their first year in the Big Ten

“We’re actually changing our court this year. I know there’s a lot of fans around the world that are going to be really sad about that, but we’re not going to have the trees on the floor anymore for volleyball. We’re going to have TeraFlex. I tried to get TeraFlex to mimic our exact court but they weren’t able to do that quite yet. Maybe next year we’ll get the trees on the TeraFlex. So all those streamers out there I know they’re going to be really sad. We’re excited about having TeraFlex, the team is excited about it. That’s going to be good for us,” Ulmer on their unique court design in Matthew Knight Arena

Nebraska

2023 record, finish: 32-2, 19-1, Big Ten champions

Coach John Cook (850-173, 689-100), senior outside hitter Lindsay Krause, senior setter Kennedi Orr

“I’m in the tank a little bit because Jordan (Larson) laid into me last week because I didn’t go to Paris, and I’m like, ‘Jordan, I’m the grand marshal at the Burwell Rodeo. I cannot go to Paris.’ So she’s never, ever said — this is her fourth Olympics. She’s never said anything to me about not going,” Cook on why he’s in trouble with United States Olympian and Nebraska assistant coach Jordan Larson.

“We’re the most motivated team in the country right now. We left a lot out on that court, and I think we’re all really fired up. I think we’re balancing things stuck in the past while at the same time using it to fuel our future. I think we have found that healthy balance, and I think that’s really making us all so excited to get back in the gym,” Krause on using the loss in the national title match to motivate them this season.

Ohio State

2023 record, finish: 11-18, 8-12, 10th place

Coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg (76-38, 76-38), senior defensive specialist Sydney Taylor, sophomore Mia Tuman

“My dad played at the Team Up North, but I think it was just really cool to go through the recruiting process where he’s like — I mean, you know where I want you to go, but I want you to make this decision for you…He does (wear Ohio State gear.). As long as it says Tuman No. 9 and volleyball. It has to say volleyball on it. But he will rock it to the home games, which I appreciate. He’s my biggest fan, guys. I promise,” Tuman on coming from an athletic family that played college sports

“The unknowns of the Big Ten this year change my (scheduling) philosophy just because we get a shot at everybody once and maybe three people twice, right? You have to look at RPI. You have to figure out what is going to get you in the best position to host first and second round, or can you host regionals, regional finals. I think you look at all those things, but the biggest thing for this group is getting back to the postseason. I think the approach changed with the unknown of the Big Ten, but also we want to host first and second round, and that’s our path,” Oldenburg on changing their scheduling philosophy after going 3-6 in nonconference last year.

Washington

2023 record, finish: 16-15, 7-13, eighth in Pac 12

Coach Leslie Gabriel (16-15, 16-15), junior outside hitter Emoni Bush, senior outside hitter Madi Endsley

“We don’t have much control over it. We’ve just got to go with the flow. I feel like we’ve just kind of focused on being present, taking the moment as it comes, staying focused on the volleyball side. We don’t have control over our travel, where we stay, what time we leave. We’re just going to take it one day at a time and try and stay on top of our schoolwork and stay focused on volleyball,” Bates on how she is preparing for the increase in travel this season.

“We had a great working relationship and we’ve been able to remain friends after. He just talks about how great this conference is and how much they support volleyball and how the network really wants volleyball to succeed and get them out in the forefront,” Gabriel on her relationship with former Washington coach Keegan Cook, who now is at Minnesota.

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