How the 'Big Ten is leading' USA Volleyball to a world standard (2024)

CHICAGO — Nobody shied away from it, and said that the additions of Oregon, Southern Cal, UCLA and Washington amplified it: The Big Ten is the best college volleyball conference.

And that claim echoed throughout the two-day Big Ten volleyball media days is supported by the success of USA Volleyball. University of Wisconsin volleyball has had its impact on every level of the United States winning medals: Lauren Carlini and Dana Rettke winning the program’s first two Olympic medals, silver after a sweep by Italy, Sarah Franklin and Carter Booth earning silver at the NORCECA Pan Am Cup with the Under-23 team and 2026 recruits Audrey Flanagan and Halle Thompson securing gold at the Under-19 NORCECA Pan Am Cup. But that’s just one program.

Nine of the players on the Olympic roster, and two more alternates, were Big Ten representatives. That included three from Wisconsin’s archrival, Nebraska, for a third straight Games.

“People really don't understand how hard it is to make an Olympic team because it's 12 players that get selected and it's a very tough process to go through and very competitive,” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “It's a great testament for Nebraska volleyball.”

Two of the Big Ten’s coaches were in Paris with the national team. Michigan’s Erin Virtue has been an offensive coordinator for the U.S. after playing at Illinois and working in similar roles at Michigan and Northwestern. UCLA’s Alfee Reft missed seven matches last season to help the U.S. qualify, and has spent time coaching at Illinois and Minnesota, and he’s implementing his national experience into his Bruins program, which he’s in his second season leading.

“We want to be creative. We want to be dynamic,” UCLA assistant Amir Lugo-Rodriguez said. “A great word that Alfee uses is fierce. You watch our style of play and … we get is a little international flare for how we're going to play. You'll see the back row attack utilized more, more different routes out of the middles, our pins being creative, (setter) Audrey (Pak) attacking the block in different ways. I think you'll see a very complete product in terms of the game of volleyball.”

Los Angeles rival USC intends to play at a faster pace, which is similar to international play. The U.S. has won five straight medals and the most in Olympics history with seven.

“So if you want to be the very best, you kind of have to mimic or copy or train in that sort of style, setting, what have you,” USC coach Brad Keller said.

But it extends beyond the systems that teams run, or the coaching experience brought to the Big Ten. There are players who represent hope, such as Devyn Robinson seeing Rettke in a Team USA jersey, for the next wave of talent, which is integrated into training camps and international play at underclass and collegiate levels.

“I think it's really cool to see people that have played in our gym and been in our position in that position,” Penn State’s Camryn Hannah said, “and it gives us more of an incentive to work hard every day because that could be us one day. I think that's why we play volleyball, so little girls will look at us and think the same thing, so it's a cool chain of events to watch.”

There was also a sharing of ideas between the players. Seven Big Ten players, plus two alternates, were on the Under-23 roster which competed in the Dominican Republic. That’s where Franklin and Booth were alongside Nebraska’s Merritt Beason, Taylor Landfair and Lexi Rodriguez, Purdue’s Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine, Penn State’s Jess Mruzik, USC’s Mia Tuaniga and UCLA’s Anna Dodson.

“I think going to USA and being able to play with a whole bunch of other college athletes who are just as driven, just as high level, who want the same thing I think is really an awesome experience,” Franklin said.

“And also to put a face and a personality behind the name that you play against every single time I think was just a really cool way to just get to play some more volleyball,” she added, “getting to learn how they do things differently than maybe you do. Because every outside, every position is going to do things a little differently because people have different skills. I think it was just really cool to get to talk with them about how we operate versus how they operate and how they kind of go into games and how they see things.”

The depth to Big Ten volleyball has grown with its four additions. But so has the competitiveness and individual skill, and the conference continues to push the envelope by playing in larger venues and with a robust national television schedule to display the excitement the sport provides.

So coaches continue to push to improve their programs. Both Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield and Illinois coach Chris Tamas ventured to Paris to support their players. Meanwhile, Minnesota coach Keegan Cook went to Honduras with the Under-19 team.

“You want to be part of things bigger than yourself, and that's what USA volleyball has represented to me,” he said. “You want to give back to the game. That's what it's always meant to me. … The Big Ten is leading in that space. The players that want to play at the highest level are finding themselves in the Big Ten within the USA program at all levels.”