Wisconsin volleyball will begin defense of Big Ten title against Northwestern, Indiana
MADISON – For the second straight year, the Wisconsin’s volleyball team’s road to a Big Ten championship starts with Northwestern.
The Badgers, the conference’s four-time defending champion, will begin the league season against the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill., on Friday, Sept. 22, according to the schedule the Big Ten released Wednesday.
UW’s home conference opener will come two days later against Indiana.
Start times and television broadcast information will be announced later.
More: Here's the Wisconsin volleyball team's 2023 schedule
The conference’s 20-game league slate features seven opponents a team will face twice and six others a team will play once.
Here is how that shakes out for UW:
Opponents the Badgers will face home and away: Indiana, Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland and Purdue.
Opponents the Badgers will face once, at home: Michigan, Minnesota and Rutgers.
Opponents the Badgers will face once, on the road: Northwestern, Michigan State and Penn State.
Circle your calendars
Nebraska: The Badgers and Cornhuskers have finished 1-2 in the conference the past two seasons. UW visits the Cornhuskers Oct. 21 and plays host on Nov. 24.
Minnesota: UW plays host to the Gophers on Oct. 29. The Badgers don’t have home and away games scheduled with their border rival for the first time since 1981. The teams played just once during the COVID season that was played during the spring of 2021 but another match was canceled.
Late season stretch: Last season Wisconsin closed the regular season with four straight road matches with three coming against ranked opponents. This year the Badgers will be home the final weekend against Nebraska on Nov. 24 and Iowa on Nov. 25. Just before that stretch, however, will be consecutive road games against Maryland, Penn State, Purdue and Indiana beginning Nov. 10.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big Ten schedule revealed; Wisconsin volleyball opens at Northwestern
