CHICAGO — The second volleyball match Sunday night at Wrigley Field in the SEC-Big Ten Challenge was suspended because of excessive moisture on the court.
The decision was made to prevent injuries after players slipped several times on the wet surface.
With a sellout crowd of 43,067 energized for the first volleyball event at the iconic home of the Chicago Cubs, third-ranked Kentucky beat No. 11 Penn State in four sets in the opening match — just an appetizer for fans of the top-ranked Huskers, who filled nearly all of the seats at Wrigley.
Ideal conditions — or so it seemed — awaited Nebraska and Missouri. But the first set was stopped for more than 15 minutes after 2 points. Players from both teams dried the TeraFlex floor with towels as the humidity levels of a 72-degree night pushed past 80 percent.
“This was amazing,” Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “I applaud the effort. But there’s a reason our sport’s indoors.”
She said she would not favor outdoor volleyball events in the future. Famously, Nebraska initiated the momentum that led to Sunday with a match played at Memorial Stadium in August 2023 that drew a crowd of 92,003, a world record for a women’s sporting event.
In a venture operated jointly by the Big Ten and the Cubs on Sunday, staff brought battery-powered blowers to the court, but moisture continued to gather as the first set progressed. Towels couldn’t keep up. Action was stopped again as Nebraska led 11-7.
The teams engaged in a dance contest on the court for several minutes, keeping fans entertained as a singalong ensued in the seats. A 15-minute break was called. Both teams left the court for their locker rooms before the suspension was announced.
Nebraska’s four seniors — Harper Murray, Laney Choboy, Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly — spoke to the crowd after the announcement that the match would not continue.
“Thank you for supporting women’s sports,” Jackson said.
The idea for Sunday was born in January 2025 in the Wrigley suite of Crane Kenney, the Cubs president, who hosted the Big Ten commissioner to watch the Frozen Confines, a two-day hockey event that featured Big Ten men’s and women’s teams.
“At the Cubs, we like to take on big and crazy things,” said Colin Faulkner, the Cubs’ chief commercial officer. “Big and crazy ideas. That’s in our DNA and our nature.”
The Big Ten and SEC worked to get three former national-championship programs and Missouri, the SEC school with the largest alumni base in Chicago.
The Cubs completed a homestand Thursday. Immediately, work began to prep the surface. Construction of the playing court took most of Friday. The weather cooperated through the weekend — until it didn’t.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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