NCAA | Final Four redux: Washington volleyball to host Wisconsin in 2014 preseason

Washington, Wisconsin, USC and Maryland agree to four-year Pac-12 vs Big Ten series

Two teams from the 2013 NCAA Final Four—Washington and Wisconsin—will join USC and Maryland in a four-year Pac-12 vs. Big Ten preseason series.

Wisconsin setter Lauren Carlini, a second-team
AVCA All-American as a freshman,
led Wisconsin to the 2013 Finals.
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

This fall, the four teams will gather in Seattle, where the two Pac-12 teams, Washington and USC, will each face the two Big Ten teams, Wisconsin and Maryland. Maryland and Rutgers are both joining the Big Ten next season, bringing the Big Ten’s membership to 14 teams.

In 2015, the preseason series host will be Wisconsin, followed by USC in 2016 and Maryland in 2017.

Wisconsin was the 2013 National Runner-Up. Both the Huskies and the Badgers lost to eventual champion Penn State in last season’s Final Four in Seattle’s Key Arena. In the Elite 8, Washington eliminated USC in an exciting match on the Trojans’ home court. Maryland finished 5-15 in the ACC, and 13-19 overall. The Terrapins’ new coach is Steve Aird, a Penn State assistant during several of its championship seasons. Aird was replaced at Penn State by former Washington star Stevie Mussie.