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…