UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 18th-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team is set to compete in the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge for the seventh consecutive traditional season, excluding the 2020 season played in the spring due to COVID 19. This year's event will be held at Oregon's Matthew Knight Arena.
Penn State opens the event with a match against No. 11 Oregon on Friday at 10 p.m. (ET). The Lions follow that with a match against No. 14 Stanford on Saturday at 7 p.m. (ET).
The Lions enter on a five-match winning streak with victories over St. John's, UCF, Iowa State, Oregon State, and LSU. They swept all five of those matches for a 15-set winning streak.
Penn State has never played a match in Eugene, Oregon, either against an opponent in a neutral-site contest or against the Ducks.
PENN STATE SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 10
No. 18 Penn State at No. 11 Oregon, 10 p.m. (ET) - Watch on Pac 12 Networks
Saturday, Sept. 11
No. 18 Penn State vs. No. 14 Stanford, 7 p.m. (ET) - Watch on Pac 12 Networks
PENN STATE AT BIG 10/PAC-12 CHALLENGE
• Penn State is 7-5 at the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge since first playing in it in 2014.
• Nine of the Lions' 12 opponents at the event were nationally ranked, including seven in the top 10.
• Penn State is 5-4 against nationally-ranked opponents in the event.
2014 (at Stanford)
#2 Stanford 3, #1 Penn State 2
#1 Penn State 3, UCLA 0
2015 (at Penn State)
#1 Penn State 3, #21 Colorado 0
#1 Penn State 3, #2 Stanford 0
2016 (at Colorado)
Colorado 3, #13 Penn State 2
#9 Stanford 3, #13 Penn State 0
2017 (at Illinois)
#3 Penn State 3, Colorado 0
#3 Penn State 3, #4 Stanford 2
2018 (at Stanford)
#4 Stanford 3, #5 Penn State 0
#5 Penn State 3, #18 Oregon 0
2019 (at Penn State)
#1 Stanford 3, #4 Penn State 0
#4 Penn State 3, #10 Oregon 0
SERIES HISTORY - OREGON
• Penn State is 3-2 all-time against Oregon in a series that began in 1985.
• The Lions swept the most recent matchup between the teams. It was played at Rec Hall as part of the 2019 Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge.
SERIES HISTORY - STANFORD
• Penn State is 12-13 all-time against Stanford in a series that began in 1992.
• The Cardinal have won four straight matches in the series, the most recent of which came in the 2019 NCAA Regional Final. The Lions won the previous two matches before that streak, beating the Cardinal twice in 2017.
PENN STATE VS. PAC 12
• Penn State is 47-30 all-time against current members of the Pac-12.
SCOUTING OREGON
• Eleventh-ranked Oregon is unbeaten at 5-0 with wins over Portland State, Santa Clara, San Jose State, Rice, and SMU.
• The Ducks have dropped just two sets in their five matches this season.
• Brooke Nuneviller was named the Pac 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, and Georgia Murphy was named the Defensive Player of the Week.
• Oregon was picked third in the Pac 12 Preseason Poll. Nuneviller was voted Preseason All-Pac 12.
SCOUTING STANFORD
• Fourteenth-ranked Stanford is 3-1 on the season following a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Texas in its most recent match.
• The Cardinal opened the season with wins over Villanova, Temple, and then-No. 5 Florida.
• Stanford, which won back-to-back national titles in 2018-19, was picked fourth in the Pac 12 Preseason Poll. Kendall Kipp was voted to the Preseason All-Pac 12 Team.
PRITCHARD IS B1G KILLS LEADER
• Senior+ Erika Pritchard is the Big Ten active kills leader with 1,579. She has seven more than the player with the second most, Minnesota's Stephanie Samedy.
• Pritchard played her first four years at Maryland, the first year under former Penn State assistant coach Steve Aird and the final thee under former Penn State assistant coach Adam Hughes.
• Pritchard earned two first-team All-Big Ten honors while playing for the Terrapins.
PARKER PASSES 1,000-KILL MILESTONE
• Jonni Parker's 1,000th career kill came during the first set of a win over Iowa State at Rec Hall on Sept. 3, 2021.
• Parker is the 29th player in Penn State history to reach the milestone
NATIONAL LEADERS IN BLOCKS
• Senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord is the NCAA Division I leader in blocks, averaging 2.00/set.
• Penn State is the NCAA Division I leader in blocks, averaging 3.50/set.
UP NEXT
• Penn State makes the short trip to Morgantown, West Virginia, to play the host Mountaineers and Robert Morris on Friday, Sept. 17.