No. 15 Women's Volleyball Opens B1G Play Friday and Sunday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 15 Penn State Women’s Volleyball opens Big Ten play this weekend with a pair of matches at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions host No. 17 USC on Friday at 8 p.m. in a match that will be streamed on B1G+. They then take on UCLA on Sunday at noon on B1G Network.

FAN INFO
• FAN INFO - Please see this link for important information that includes ticketing, parking, and bag policy for the venue.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Friday, Sept. 26 | 8 p.m.
No. 17 USC (9-1, 0-0 B1G) at No. 15 Penn State (6-4, 0-0 B1G) | Live Stats | Watch

Sunday, Sept. 28 | Noon
UCLA (6-4, 0-0 B1G) at No. 15 Penn State (6-4, 0-0 B1G) | Live Stats | B1G Network

OPENING NOTES
• Penn State begins its 20-match Big Ten schedule this week as it hosts No. 19 USC and UCLA at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions, who shared the Big Ten title last season, have won a league-high 18 Big Ten championships in program history.
• The Nittany Lions continue their long homestand with the two matches at Rec Hall this weekend. They will play the seventh and eighth of a nine-match homestand.
• Penn State is 52-6 at Rec Hall in Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s four seasons as head coach. The Nittany Lions went a perfect 20-0 at home last season.
• Penn State averaged 4,136 fans through its first six home matches.

SERIES HISTORY - USC
• Penn State is 3-2 in the all-time series with USC. The teams first played in 1980.
• The Nittany Lions have won three straight matches in the series, including a 3-1 win last season in Los Angeles. It was the first-ever Big Ten match between the teams. Caroline Jurevicius tallied eight kills and seven blocks in the win, while Maggie Mendelson contributed six kills and five blocks.
• Penn State is 1-0 against the Trojans at Rec Hall. 

SCOUTING USC
• USC is 9-1 after four straight wins over Western Michigan (3-0), LSU twice (3-1, 3-0), and California (3-1).
• The Trojans are 1-1 in ranked matchups this season. Thy beat No. 13 Creighton (3-0) but fell to No. 19 BYU (3-0).
• USC was picked sixth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll. Junior outside hitter Adonia Faumuina was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team.
• Last week, setter Reese Messer was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, while middle blocker Leah Ford was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season.

SERIES HISTORY - UCLA
• Penn State is 7-7 in the all-time series with UCLA. The teams first played in 1983.
• The Nittany Lions have won three straight matches in the series, including a five-set victory in Los Angeles last season. Caroline Jurevicius hit .500 with eight kills and two blocks in that win. Maggie Mendelson tallied seven kills and eight blocks, while Gillian Grimes and Ava Falduto had 14 and 11 digs, respectively.
• Penn State is 1-1 against the Bruins at Rec Hall.

SCOUTING UCLA
• UCLA is 6-4 after losing its most recent match against No. 4 Stanford (3-1).
• The Bruins were picked fifth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll.
• Four Bruins - graduate middle blocker Phekran Kong, senior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette, junior outside hitter Maggie Li, and redshirt junior middle blocker Marianna Singletary -- were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team.
• Both Leverette and Li were named to the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List, as well.

STREAKS TO WATCH
Ava Falduto
· 3 straight matches with at least one ace

Gillian Grimes
· 4 straight matches with double-digit digs

Addie Lyon
· 5 straight matches with at least one ace

Kennedy Martin
· 61 straight matches with double-digit kills when playing at least three sets
· 3 straight matches with at least one ace

Maggie Mendelson
· 3 straight matches with at least five kills and five blocks

NATIONAL RANKING STREAK
• Penn State was ranked No. 15 in the latest AVCA Poll.
• The Nittany Lions have been ranked in 555 consecutive AVCA Coaches Polls, which dates back to the final poll of the 1988 season.

A CLOSER LOOK AT LYON'S STATS
• Addie Lyon’s season stats are deceiving as she spent the first four matches of the season as a serving sub.
• In Lyon’s six matches as the starting setter, she is averaging 10.33 assists/set while guiding the team to .307 hitting.

B1G WINNING STREAK
• The Nittany Lions take a six-match Big Ten regular season winning streak into the weekend. Their last regular-season loss in conference play came at the hands of Wisconsin on Nov. 9, 2024. The six-match win streak is the longest active streak of any Big Ten team. 
• Penn State had a 19-1 overall conference record last season to go along with its undefeated home record against conference opponents.

UP NEXT
• No. 15 Penn State continues Big Ten play against No. 1 Nebraska on Friday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. on FOX. The Nittany Lions then head to College Park to play Maryland on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 4 p.m.

 

The 2025 Penn State women's volleyball season is presented by Musselman's.