BATON ROUGE, La. – Penn State women's volleyball looks to build upon a 3-0 opening weekend as it travels to Louisiana to play in the Tiger Challenge on Friday and Saturday.
The Nittany Lions open the event with a 1 p.m. (ET) match against Iowa State on Friday and then are back on the court at 6 p.m. (ET) to take on Troy. The Lions are back in action on Saturday with a match against the host, LSU, at 4 p.m. (ET).
PENN STATE WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 2
1 p.m. (ET) | vs. Iowa State | Live Stats
6 p.m. (ET) | vs. Troy | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 3
4 p.m. (ET) | Penn State at LSU | Live Stats | Watch
SERIES HISTORY
• Iowa State – Penn State is 3-0 in the all-time series. The Lions won by 3-0 scores in 1995 and 2019, and 2021.
• Troy – Penn State and Troy will meet for the first time.
• LSU – The Lions are 11-2 against the Tigers, winning most recently by scores of 3-0 in 2019 and 2021.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
• Iowa State – The Cyclones are 1-2 on the year so far dropping matches to No. 18 Creighton and Wichita State. Senior outside hitter Eleanor Holthaus logged 42 kills in the opening weekend tournament, including 19 against Wichita State. She has attained All-Big 12 honors in her previous three seasons.
• Troy – Troy finished 18-13 in their 2021 campaign and started 2-1 this season. Following a loss to Georgia, the Trojans rebounded to beat Santa Clara and Chattanooga. Sophomore outside hitter Tori Hester is coming off a career day with 23 kills and 12 digs against Chattanooga. Troy head coach Josh Lauer has led the Trojans to three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in program history.
• LSU – Despite finishing last season 13-14 the Tigers return a core group of starters featuring middle blocker Anita Anwusi, outside hitter Sanaa Dotson and libero Ella Larkin. Anwusi's breakout 2021 season saw her lead the team with a .346 hitting percentage, which ranks No. 10 all time for a single season. The Tigers are 1-2 with a win over Samford (3-0) and losses to Houston (3-1) and Rice (3-2).
TRIO EARN ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS AT PENN STATE INVITATIONAL
• Zoe Weatherington was named MVP of the Penn State Invitational after totaling 31 kills in wins over UConn, Loyola (Md.), and West Virginia last weekend.
• Weatherington was joined on the All-Tournament Team by libero Maddy Bilinovic and setter Seleisa Elisaia.
FIRST TIME IN AWHILE
• Penn State will make the trip to Baton Rouge for the first time since 2006.
UP NEXT
• Penn State travels to Minneapolis to play in the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge on Sept. 9-10. The Nittany Lions will play Stanford and Oregon at the event.
