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No. 3 Women's Volleyball Set for In-State Matchup at No. 1 Pittsburgh

Opens in a new window Live Stats Opens in a new window Match Notes

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 3 Penn State Women's Volleyball heads to Pittsburgh for an in-state matchup between top-three teams in the nation when it takes on the top-ranked Panthers on Wednesday at the Petersen Events Center. The match will air live on ACC Network.

This is the first time in the series history that both Penn State and Pitt are ranked in the top five. It is just the sixth time in the series history that both teams are ranked.

Wednesday’s match against Pittsburgh is Penn State’s fifth time on TV in its first nine matches. The Nittany Lions played Tennessee on ESPNU, Louisville on B1G Network, Kentucky on SEC Network, Duke on FS1, and now the Panthers on ACC Network.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Wednesday, Sept. 18 – 7 p.m.
#3 Penn State (8-0, 0-0 B1G) at #1 Pittsburgh (6-0, 0-0 ACC) | Live Stats | ACC Network

SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State is 33-19 in the all-time series with Pittsburgh. The teams first played in 1977.
• The Panthers won the most recent matchup in 2021, but the Nittany Lions have won 17 of the past 19 meetings dating back to 1987.
• Penn State is 13-11 in road matches against Pittsburgh.

SCOUTING PITTSBURGH
• Pittsburgh is the top-ranked team in the country after a 6-0 start with wins over then-No. 10 Oregon (3-0), Long Beach State (3-0), Buffalo (3-0), then-No. 23 USC (3-0), Pepperdine (3-0), and UC Santa Barbara (3-0).
• The Panthers are the only ream to advance to each of the past three NCAA Semifinals.
• Pittsburgh was picked first in the ACC Preseason Poll. Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks, sophomore right side Olivia Babcock, and sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
• Fairbanks, Babcock, and Stafford were all All-Americans at the end of last season.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Nittany Lions won the Penn State Invitational with 3-0 wins over Duke, Princeton, and St. John’s.
• Jess Mruzik was named the MVP of the Invitational after hitting .265 with 3.86 kills, 2.14 digs, and 0.57 blocks per set.
• Caroline Jurevicius made the All-Invitational Team after hitting .559 with 2.33 kills and 0.67 blocks per set.
• Izzy Starck made the All-Invitational Team after Penn State hit .367 behind her 10.67 assists/set. She did a little bit of everything, adding 1.33 digs and 1.33 blocks per set.

STREAKS TO WATCH
Team
• 12 straight wins against non-conference opponents (including postseason) dating back to last season

NATIONAL RANKING STREAK
• Penn State was ranked No. 3 in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll.
• The Nittany Lions have been ranked in 538 consecutive AVCA Coaches Polls, which dates back to the final poll of the 1988 season.

 AGAINST THE #1 TEAM
• Penn State is 7-12 all-time against opponents that are ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time of the match.
• The Nittany Lions's last win over a team ranked No. 1 in the nation came against Stanford in 2017.
• Penn State has three top-10 wins within the last year, beating No. 9 Minnesota and No. 2 Wisconsin last season and No. 4 Louisville this season. The win over the Gophers was on the road, while the other two were at Rec Hall.

RANKED WINS THIS SEASON
• As of Monday, Sept. 16, Penn State is one of just four teams in the country with  at least three wins over ranked teams this season. The  others are Louisville, Nebraska, and Stanford

MULTIPLE RANKED WINS
Louisville - #3 Wisconsin, #15 Tennessee, #9 Creighton
Nebraska - #9 Kentucky, #9 Creighton, #14 Arizona State
Penn State - #15 Tennessee, #4 Louisville, #9 Kentucky
Stanford - #18 Minnesota, #3 Wisconsin, #24 Marquette, #6 Texas

HOLD THEM UNDER .200
• Penn State has held all but one of its opponents (Ball State) to under .200 hitting this season. That includes all three nationally-ranked opponents.
• The Nittany Lions’ three nationally-ranked opponents - No. 4 Louisville, No. 9 Kentucky, No 15 Tennessee - combined to hit an average of .156.

UP NEXT
• Up next for the Nittany Lions is the Penn State Classic, where they will play James Madison on Friday and Yale on Sunday.
• James Madison, an NCAA Tournament team last season, is 5-3 following three straight wins over San Diego, High Point, and Western Michigan.
• Yale, also an NCAA Tournament team last season, is 4-2 with four straight wins over USC Upstate, Villanova, Fairfield, and Colgate.