Big Ten introduces women's volleyball conference tournament for 2026

The Big Ten women's volleyball automatic qualifier will be decided in a new way this fall. As first reported by Big Ten Network's Emily Ehman , the Big Ten is unveiling a women's volleyball conference tournament to be played from Nov. 20-25 at Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Indiana.

The tournament will feature the top 15 teams from the 18-team conference's regular-season standings and will offer the winner an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. “We look forward to bringing the nation’s top talent together for an entire week of exhilarating competition culminating in the crowning of the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament Champion,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said in a statement. COURT TIME: Boys volleyball 'engulfing local areas' as newest MHSAA sport Based on the announced schedule, the tournament appears to operate similarly to the women's basketball tourney, offering double byes to the top four seeds in the conference and byes to seeds 5-9.

The number of regular-season conference games will also drop from 20 to 17 per team, with each team playing each Big Ten team once per season. HUGE news in the volleyball world 🔥 The B1G Volleyball Tournament is coming November 2026! ➡️ @emilyehman breaks down the format: pic.

twitter. com/vl6CXhd1sW — Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) April 16, 2026 The Big Ten is one of the most dominant conferences in women's college volleyball, with representatives in six of the last 10 NCAA title games. Penn State is the most recent Big Ten team to win a national championship, going 35-2 under coach Katie Schumacher-Calway in 2024.