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The Michigan State Spartans Volleyball team has been on hold with its season for a few months now due to COVID-19 concerns (and financial constraints around the college athletics universe due to COVID as well). If you missed The Only Colors’ interview with MSU Volleyball player Elena Shklyar back in August about this, be sure to catch that here!
As for the schedule for MSU, after the NCAA announced the timeline for the now spring tournament dates earlier this fall semester, the Big Ten has released the conference only volleyball schedule in full.
Sure, it looks a little different. But we're excited to have our road mapped out in our Spring 2021 Schedule!
— MSU Volleyball (@MichStVB) December 30, 2020
More https://t.co/sysdN3TTJT pic.twitter.com/HFwAU2O1MA
The Big Ten features an 11-week schedule with two-game series each week against the same opponent. So the conference-only schedule will feature 11 teams over 22 games in all. Conference play will wrap up for the Spartans on Sunday, April 3. The first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament will begin Thursday, April 8.
As a result of the schedule, the Spartans only play 11 of the 13 other members of the Big Ten. MSU avoids Nebraska (finished second in the Big Ten last year) and Indiana (finished 13th). Michigan State will play Michigan just once in East Lansing, and the second game of the series in Ann Arbor, however.
It was not widely available at publishing to see if every team in the conference will feature this scheduling arrangement against a geographically close rival (Northwestern and Illinois along with Indiana and Purdue did not have their schedules published on their respective websites as of yet), but Nebraska and Iowa will also feature this scheduling arrangement.
The schedule in full as released includes:
- at Minnesota, Saturday, Jan. 23
- at Minnesota, Sunday, Jan. 24
- Michigan, Thursday, Jan. 28
- at Michigan, Saturday, Jan. 30
- Ohio State, Friday, Feb. 5
- Ohio State, Saturday, Feb. 6
- at Maryland, Friday, Feb. 12
- at Maryland, Saturday, Feb. 13
- Wisconsin, Saturday, Feb. 20
- Wisconsin, Sunday, Feb. 21
- Illinois, Saturday, Feb. 27
- Illinois, Sunday, Feb. 28
- at Northwestern, Friday, March 5
- at Northwestern, Saturday, March 6
- at Purdue, Friday, March 12
- at Purdue, Saturday, March 13
- Penn State, Friday, March 19
- Penn State, Saturday, March 20
- at Iowa, Friday March 26
- at Iowa, Saturday, March 27
- Rutgers, Friday, April 2
- Rutgers, Saturday, April 3