Women's Watch: Leading DePaul scorer keeps shining

Distance doesn't bother Abby Reed. To a point.

In high school, Reed drove nearly two hours twice a week from Rockford to Glenview just for travel soccer practice with FC United.

"It was a very competitive environment and the team was so good. We would fly to tournaments all over the country," Reed said. "It was a lot of driving for practice, but it was worth the drive."

Going to Indiana State to play on the soccer team there was going to be a cinch for the seasoned traveler. Especially since she was going to get to play with her sister Taylor, who was a senior at Indiana State when she was a freshman.

But when Taylor graduated, Indiana State suddenly seemed a little too far from home for Reed, and she wanted to transfer. She looked no further than one of the schools well within her radius of comfort, and was also one of her finalists the first time through the recruiting process.

Reed, a 5-foot-4 forward, transferred to DePaul as a sophomore, and she made herself at home right away. She tied the school record for most goals in a season (12) that year, was named second-team all-Big East, and was a finalist for the Soccer News Player of the Year award.

Two years later as a senior, the accolades keep coming for Reed at DePaul. She was just named the national soccer player of the week by espnW. She totaled 3 goals and 3 assists in wins over Creighton and Seton Hall last week.

Individually, Reed is No. 12 in the country in points and No. 19 in assists, leading the way for a DePaul squad that is ranked eighth in the country in scoring offense.

"I wouldn't trade the time I had at Indiana State for anything because I got to play with Taylor, but after she left, I realized pretty fast that I had kind of out-grown Indiana State and I wanted to be closer to my family," Reed said. "I wanted to be closer to home and DePaul was such a good fit.

"I knew right away that I made the right decision. The girls made me feel right at home. And my class (the seniors) is really tight. We mesh well."

Reed is hoping her class can lead DePaul to a finish that would match her first season at DePaul. In 2014, Reed helped DePaul win the Big East regular season championship and postseason tournament.

Right now, the Blue Demons sit in first place in the Big East with a 5-0 record. DePaul is 8-4-2 overall and could make a play for consideration in the national rankings with a win over No. 2 Georgetown next weekend in Washington D.C.

"We've got a really good group and everyone on our team is so passionate and plays for one another," Reed said. "As we close out the Big East, we're hoping to be looked at nationally when we play some of these better teams, like Georgetown and Marquette. We enjoy being the underdogs, but we also want to get noticed."

A BIG deal:

The Big Ten has been the best conference in women's volleyball in recent years. Hands down.

But this is getting a little obscene.

The league is dominating on a national scene, and therefore on the national rankings as well.

Could an all-Big 10 Final Four happen? Not sure how the NCAA selection committee would position teams from the conference, but there seem to be quite a few of them that are perfectly capable of getting there.

This week, nine of the Big Ten's 14 teams (Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue and Illinois) are ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll. That's more than half the league.

But to top that off, the top three teams in the nation are all from the Big Ten: Wisconsin is No. 1, Nebraska is No. 2 and Minnesota is No. 3, and those three teams have been jockeying back in forth in those spots for the last few weeks.

What a testament to the talent and coaching in the Big Ten in what had for years been known as a West Coast sport.

• Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw