Women’s sports have seen a historic rise in interest levels across collegiate and professional sports, extending far beyond Caitlin Clark. Volleyball is one of the sports seeing huge growth in almost every metric, especially on television. But one of the sport’s biggest ever primetime showcases ended in disappointment on Sunday night.
The Labor Day weekend was the site of a nationally televised doubleheader on Fox from Wrigley Field in the Big Ten-SEC challenge. Kentucky played Penn State in the first game while national powerhouse Nebraska played Missouri in the nightcap.
While Kentucky’s victory over Penn State came in four sets, the Nebraska-Missouri game couldn’t complete even one set because the floor became unplayable.
As it turns out, there’s a reason why volleyball is played indoors in climate-controlled venues. The humidity in Chicago made the floor increasingly slippery, with players from the first game noting how conditions got worse throughout. It only took three points for the Nebraska-Missouri game to run into problems as a small army of individuals tried to work frantically to dry the court and even rip up logos.
The volleyball court surface issues led to many people teaming up to tear logos off the court at Wrigley Field.
The Nebraska-Missouri match, televised on Fox, was eventually suspended. pic.twitter.com/OP96KjOQ53 https://t.co/8Bz28APWvw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 7, 2026
Unfortunately for the 43,000 fans who packed Wrigley Field, most of them Huskers fans, the game only lasted 15 more points before it was ultimately suspended with Nebraska leading 11-7 in the opening set. The Big Ten announced that the game could not be rescheduled at Wrigley Field and that any possible resumption would be announced later.
After the match was suspended, Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said it might be the end of outdoor volleyball spectacles.
“I think there’s opportunities to do some incredible things for volleyball. I do not think outdoor is what we should be doing.”
Dani Busboom Kelly after No. 1 Nebraska’s match at Wrigley Field against Missouri was suspended. @WOWT6News pic.twitter.com/bSsmaInf4s
— Mason Kern (@MasonKernMedia) September 7, 2026
“There’s a reason why our sport’s indoor. And there’s a lot of amazing indoor arenas or football fields indoor or baseball fields that have domes. You saw us play one this year, an exhibition. I think there’s opportunities to do some incredible things for volleyball. I do not think outdoor is what we should be doing,” Kelly said.
The growth and popularity of women’s college volleyball has been a great story over the last year. Multiple networks have gotten on board with significant investment and coverage. Nebraska just won the Spikes Under the Lights tournament at AT&T Stadium that was televised on TNT Sports.
A huge college volleyball match at Wrigley Field on Fox in primetime is definitely one of those opportunities that sounds great on paper when you’re trying to move the sport forward. But it’s a stark reminder that these opportunities and special events have to come with some sensibility about what’s best for the sport and the athletes. The last thing Fox, the NCAA, and volleyball fans, both in person and on television, wanted to see was a huge moment like this end in this way.
About Matt Yoder