The University of Minnesota volleyball program has announced its 2025 Big Ten schedule. Minnesota will compete in a 20-match Big Ten conference schedule following 11 non-conference contests in August and September. Conference play is set to begin on Sept. 25 vs. Michigan State. Game times and broadcast information for all matches will follow at a later time.
Led by former associate head coach Kristen Kelsay, the Michigan State Spartans come to town to open Big Ten play in Minneapolis on Thursday, Sept. 25. They’ll complete the first conference weekend with a home matchup vs. Rutgers on Sunday, Sept. 28.
The Gophers will hit the road for the first time in league competition to take on the Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday, Oct. 1. They’ll head back home to practice for a couple days before going on a trip to Chicago for a battle with Northwestern on Sunday, Oct. 5 in Evanston, Ill.
The UCLA Bruins will be looking for revenge against the ‘U’ after being outlasted in a five set grinder last fall in Westwood. They’ll come to Dinkytown for just the third time ever and first time since the 2016 Elite Eight on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Minnesota will stay home for the weekend after that, hosting the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, Oct. 11.
Up next, a West Coast road trip to Oregon and Washington is on tap. The Gophers are set to play the Ducks on Friday, Oct. 17 in Eugene, Ore., and the Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 18 in Seattle. It will be head coach Keegan Cook’s first trip back to the school he spent eight years as the head coach at from 2015-22. Minnesota will play two more road games the next weekend in a Midwest swing to Indiana. They’ll take on the Hoosiers on Friday, Oct. 24 and the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday, Oct. 26.
The back half of the regular season league slate begins on Wednesday, Oct. 29 with a match against Illinois. That will be the final match of October before the final month of the regular season starts Saturday, Nov. 1 with the USC Trojans coming to town. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, the Gophers start a run of three-straight matches against 2024 top-10 ranked teams. First, it’s a Border Battle with the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wis. Minnesota hasn’t won in Madison since the 2018 season but had match point last year before falling in five sets.
On Saturday, Nov. 8, the ‘U’ will host the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Match time is undetermined but NBC will televise the contest. After a match with NU, the defending national champion Penn State Nittany Lions come to town on Friday, Nov. 14. Minnesota is looking to defeat the defending champion for the second year in-a-row after beating then No. 1 Texas in 2024.
Three road matches are on tap next, starting with a match at Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 16. The following weekend, the ‘U’ heads East to play at Maryland on Friday, Nov. 21 and Rutgers on Sunday, Nov. 23 to complete Big Ten road competition. They are set to close out the season at home with matches against Purdue (Wednesday, Nov. 26) and Wisconsin (Friday, Nov. 28). Postseason play begins Thursday, Dec. 4.
The three teams Minnesota will play twice each in 2025 are Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin. On the road, the Gophers play at Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Oregon, and Washington. They’ll play Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA and USC at home only.
In 2024, the team finished with a 21-11 (13-7 Big Ten) record, a four-win improvement from the year prior. Minnesota made its 10th straight NCAA Tournament and fell in the Round of 32 to Kentucky. The ‘U’ earned top-10 wins over then No. 1 Texas and No. 7 Wisconsin, both in five sets. It was the first time Minnesota defeated a No. 1 ranked team since 2019 and the program’s second straight home win over Wisconsin.
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2025 Schedule:
Mon. Aug, 25.: vs. No. 16 Texas A&M in Sioux Falls, S.D. (at Sanford Pentagon) – TBA
Friday, Aug. 29: Cal Poly – 6 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 30: vs. Ball State – 5 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 31: vs. St. Thomas – 2 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 5: at Vanderbilt – TBA
Saturday, Sept. 6: at Lipscomb – TBA
Friday, Sept. 12: vs. South Florida – 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 13: vs. No. 17 Dayton – 5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 14: vs. South Dakota State – 2 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 19: at Loyola Chicago – 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 21: at No. 21 Marquette – TBA
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025: vs. Michigan State – TBA
Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025: vs. Rutgers – TBA
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025: at Michigan – TBA
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025: at Northwestern – TBA
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025: vs. UCLA – TBA
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025: vs. Ohio State – TBA
Friday, Oct. 17, 2025: at No. 10 Oregon – TBA
Saturday, Oct.18, 2025: at Washington – TBA
Friday, Oct. 24, 2025: at Indiana – TBA
Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025: at No. 9 Purdue – TBA
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025: vs. Illinois – TBA
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025: vs. No. 24 USC – TBA
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025: at No. 7 Wisconsin – TBA
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025: vs. No. 4 Nebraska – NBC
Friday, Nov. 14, 2025: vs. No. 1 Penn State – TBA
Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025: at Iowa – TBA
Friday, Nov.r 21, 2025: at Maryland – TBA
Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025: at Rutgers – TBA
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: vs. No. 9 Purdue – TBA
Friday, Nov. 28, 2025: vs. No. 7 Wisconsin – TBA
*2024 AVCA Final Ranking
Schedule Notes:
-Matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 10
-Matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-10: 7
-Home matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 5
-Road/Neutral matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 5
-2024 record against AVCA Top-25 teams: 2-9
-Matches against 2024 NCAA Tournament Teams: 15
-Matches against 2024 Sweet 16 Teams: 10
-Matches against 2024 Final Four Teams: 2
-Minnesota opens conference play at home against Michigan State. Former associate head coach Kristen Kelsay is now the head coach of the Spartans.
-The Gophers will host four teams that finished in the top-10 last year (No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 9 Purdue). They last defeated Penn State at home in Feb. 2021, Nebraska in Nov. 21, Wisconsin in Sept. 2024 and Purdue in Nov. 2022.
-Minnesota won two top-10 matches last year, vs. No. 1 Texas and No. 6 Wisconsin.
-Conference opponents Minnesota plays twice: Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
