Big Ten Conference Launches Brand-New Discover® In-Season Volleyball Challenge

CHICAGO – The Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network (BTN) today announced they are launching a newly created In-Season Volleyball Challenge. Partnering with Discover®, the official credit card of the Big Ten Conference, the inaugural Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge will debut during the 2025 regular season conference schedule starting Oct. 1, encompassing all 18 Big Ten Volleyball programs.  

Select conference matches played during the month of October will count toward the Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge. Each team will play five designated challenge matches throughout the month, with the winner determined by the highest win total across the five games. A trophy will be awarded to the winning team.

Iowa’s five matches include home contests against USC (Oct. 17) and Michigan State (Oct. 24) and road matches at Oregon (Oct. 3), Michigan State (Oct. 10) and Northwestern (Oct. 31).

“Big Ten volleyball has experienced tremendous growth over the last several years, and the top-to-bottom strength of the league is unmatched in the sport,” said Big Ten Conference Chief Operating Officer, Kerry Kenny. “Our commitment to growing the game includes finding new ways to elevate the competition for our programs and fans, and we’re grateful to Discover for their partnership in this mission.”

“Through our existing partnership, Discover has consistently demonstrated their dedication to amplifying the Big Ten's landmark events, and we are excited to expand this relationship to include our coverage of the inaugural Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge,” said BTN President François McGillicuddy.

Format Overview:
All weekday matches in the month of October (weeks 2-6 of the conference schedule) will count toward the Challenge.
•    Weekday is defined as Wednesday through Friday
•    Start date – Wednesday, October 1
•    End date – Friday, October 31
 
Tiebreak Procedures:
Two Teams Tied
•    Head-to-head results (Challenge matches only).
•    If a tie still exists, winning percentage against common opponent/(s) (Challenge matches only).
•    If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total sets won during Challenge matches (total sets won/total sets played). 
•    If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total points won during Challenge matches (total points won/total points played).
•    If a tie still exists, the team with the highest ranking in the latest published NCAA Women’s Volleyball RPI will be declared the winter.
 
Three or More Teams Tied
•    Head-to-head results among the group (Challenge matches only).
•    If a tie still exists, winning percentage against common opponent/(s) (Challenge matches only).
•    If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total sets won during Challenge matches among the group (total sets won/total sets played).
•    If a tie still exists, highest percentage of total points won during Challenge matches among the group (total points won/total points played).
•    If a tie still exists, the team with the highest ranking among the group in the latest published NCAA Women’s Volleyball RPI will be declared the winter.

The Hawkeyes conclude the month of September with Big Ten home matches against Maryland on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and No. 7 Wisconsin on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Xtream Arena.