UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Assistant coach Steph Lazo, 2018 graduate Katie O’Donnell, Ellie Hollin, and Minka Martinez of Penn State women’s lacrosse have all been invited to complete with national teams in the 2025 season. Lazo and Martinez will compete on behalf of Philippines Lacrosse in the 2025 Asia-Pacific Women’s Lacrosse Championship World Qualifier hosted by Australia. Hollin and O’Donnell have received an invite to the U.S. Women’s Field National Team training camp.
Lazo and Martinez will kick off the action with the Philippines on Sunday, January 5th at 6 p.m. EST taking on China. The pair will also face Hong Kong on Tuesday, January 7th and Australia on Wednesday, January 8th. The second two contests will begin at 2 a.m. EST (6 p.m. local time). Results in pool play will determine the rest of the team’s schedule.
Hollin and O’Donnell will train with 34 others at Boston College next week for the second of three U.S. Women’s Field National Team training camp. The group will compete for an invite to the final training camp held at the USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Maryland, ahead of the Pan American Lacrosse Association Women’s Continental Qualifier. The qualifier will be held in Auburndale, Florida, in June 2025.
Lazo, who leads the Nittany Lions offense, played for the Blue and White from 2014-17. During her time, she was a two-time All-American, three-time All-Region selection, and was named the 2017 Penn State Female Athlete of the Year. To-date, she ranks 10th and seventh in in points (211) and assists (89) in Penn State history.
Martinez arrived in Happy Valley last fall on the heels of winning the Arizona Adrenaline Tournament with her club team, Mad Dog West Elite. She was four-year lacrosse letter winner at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School and played on its basketball and surf teams. She was an All-CIF Division 1 honoree in her senior season. She took a redshirt in her freshman year at PSU.
Hollin, an All-American in 2023, has been a mainstay in the Nittany Lion defense for three seasons. She has accumulated 60 caused turnovers and 72 groundballs in her three seasons with Penn State.
O’Donnell was a first-team All-American as a senior and went fourth in the 2018 WPLL Draft by the New England Command. The midfielder still ranks fourth in goals (203) and sixth in points (227) in the Penn State record books.