NCAA Women
June 23, 2024
Two of the new members of the Big Ten conference go from the frying pan into the fire for their first Big Ten volleyball road trips.
USC and UCLA will play their respective first league road matches at Nebraska during the last week of September to kick off the 10-week conference schedule. Those two Southern California schools and two from the Pacific Northwest, Washington and Oregon, not only expanded the league to 18 teams but created a whole new set of travels situations to work out.
Second-year UCLA coach Alfee Reft said they worked with Big Ten officials to make the integration seamless and all the cross-country flights more manageable. He’s looking forward to the challenge of opening conference play in Lincoln, where Nebraska is not only the defending B1G champion but NCAA attendance leader,
“I think opening up anywhere in the Big Ten for us is going to be exciting,” Reft said during an interview on the Big Ten Network. “Certainly, heading out to Nebraska is a real fun way for our Bruin squad this year to enter and have our inaugural match in the Big Ten.”
While the Huskers will host the West Coast teams during the first week of league play, the four other Big Ten 2023 NCAA tournament qualifiers will face off on opening…
