source: ncaa

College volleyball wrote a new chapter at one of baseball's most celebrated venues on Sunday, as ABC7 Chicago reported that Wrigley Field hosted its first-ever volleyball matches to close out the inaugural Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week.

The doubleheader brought No. 3 Kentucky against No. 13 Penn State at 7 p.m. ET, followed by No. 1 Nebraska versus Missouri at 9 p.m. ET, with both matches broadcast live on FOX.

All 34 programs across the Big Ten and SEC participated in the week-long challenge. Chicago's Wrigley Field hosted the finale.

The Teams and Their 2026 Form

Nebraska arrived as the top-ranked program in the country and the only undefeated team against ranked opponents this season, having swept then-No. 2 Texas 3-0 earlier in the year, per NCAA.com.

The Huskers also posted exhibition wins over then-No. 11 SMU and then-No. 17 Florida at the Spikes Under the Lights showcase at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, though those results do not count toward the regular-season record.

Kentucky entered at 3-1 on the year, with its lone loss coming against then-No. 4 Pittsburgh at the AVCA First Serve tournament in Milwaukee.

Penn State came in undefeated at 3-0 but had not yet faced a ranked opponent.

Missouri, the only unranked team in the doubleheader, carried a 0-1 mark against ranked competition after a 3-1 defeat to No. 25 Oregon earlier in the week.

For a primer on how sets and scoring work at this level, see scoring format.

A Week of Ranked Matchups Across Two Conferences

The Wrigley doubleheader capped a stretch of high-profile results across both conferences.

Among the notable outcomes, No. 14 Purdue swept then-No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 6 Louisville defeated No. 9 Texas in a sweep and then beat No. 18 TCU 3-0, and No. 22 Tennessee topped No. 21 Indiana 3-0.

Unranked Florida State also knocked off No. 16 Kansas 3-2, the week's most significant upset. Wisconsin, despite entering at No. 5 in the AVCA poll with a 1-3 record, defeated No. 17 Florida 3-2.

The Scene at Wrigley Field

The Friendly Confines drew fans from across the country for the outdoor setting, something players at this level rarely experience.

ABC7 Chicago captured the atmosphere at the ballpark, where Nebraska supporters turned out in force.

One Missouri fan told the station the crowd dynamic felt like David versus Goliath, given how heavily Nebraska fans outnumbered Missouri's. A Nebraska fan referenced Volleyball Day in Nebraska, the 2023 event at Memorial Stadium that drew more than 92,000 spectators, as a touchstone for what Sunday's event represented for the sport's visibility.

The event drew on the same appetite for large-scale, landmark-venue college volleyball that has driven other recent showcases, including the Players Era event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and the AVCA First Serve at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Outdoor play adds variables that indoor-trained players rarely encounter, as explained in net and boundary rules.