The Big Ten women's volleyball race is just getting interesting.

It is tight at the top, with No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Minnesota and No. 11 Ohio State all tied for first place. Each team has only suffered one loss, and holds a two game lead over No. 13 Penn State and No. 20 Michigan State.

Pretty impressive

Minnesota (18-1, 7-1 Big Ten) outside hitter Nicole Branagh recorded her 2,000th kill against Iowa Friday night.

She now is fifth on the Big Ten's all-time kill list with 2,029.

Branagh makes Minnesota the first school in NCAA history to have three players eclipse the mark.

"I am happy I reached 2,000 kills tonight," Branagh said in a press release. "A lot of our players can take pride in this. It took a lot of sets and a lot of passes for me to reach 2,000 kills."

The next night against Ohio State (18-1, 7-1), Branagh added 1,000 digs to her resume. She reached the mark with her 18-dig effort.

Not too shabby either

Indiana's senior Amanda Welter is far from 2,000 kills, but she did reach No. 1000 during the weekend. Before 1,213 fans, the second largest crowd in University Gym history, Welter became the seventh Hoosier to reach the plateau. Her accomplishment helped lead Indiana to a victory against intrastate rival Purdue.

Close, but not perfect

Branagh's performance Saturday, which also included 21 kills, helped Minnesota defeat the Buckeyes, 3-2.

The Gopher victory handed Ohio State its first loss and snapped its 16-game winning streak.

Minnesota was able to get some revenge for its end to an undefeated season on Oct. 6, when Wisconsin took them down.

The Gophers have now won three-straight matches following their first and only loss.

Two Good

The Big Ten couldn't decide on the single best player in the conference last week, so it named co-Players of the Week instead.

Penn State's Katie Schumacher was one of the recipients.

The junior averaged 3.17 kills, 2 digs and 1.33 blocks per game, hitting at a .429 clip in the process.

Schumacher joins teammate Mishka Levy as the only Nittany Lions (16-4, 5-3) to claim the honor this season.

Welter from Indiana (12-6, 3-5) also shared the honor, as she helped her team win two games over Purdue and Illinois. In addition to her 1,000th kill, she averaged 5.3 kills per game and tallied a .405 hitting percentage.