MATCH DAY: No. 9 Women's Volleyball Hosts Penn State Classic

PENN STATE CLASSIC
• Penn State welcomes South Florida and No. 16 Tennessee for the Penn State Classic at Rec Hall on Sept. 18-20.
• The event has been held all but three seasons - 2010, 2011, 2020-21 - since 1980.
• Penn State is 129-4 all-time in the Penn State Classic.
• The Nittany Lions have won 21 straight matches in the event. They have won 63 of 67 sets played during that stretch.

LAST TIME OUT
• Sophomore Gabrielle Nichols put together one of the best matches of her young career in a 3-1 win over Villanova on Tuesday at Rec Hall. 
• The middle blocker hit .579 with a career-high 13 kills and added six blocks in the win.
• Kennedy Martin joined Nichols in double-digits with 12 kills in addition to three blocks and seven digs.
• Alexis Stucky did a little bit of everything, finishing with 43 assists, seven digs, and two aces while guiding the team to .285 hitting.

UP NEXT
• Penn State opens Big Ten play with a road trip. The Nittany Lions play at Michigan on Friday, Sept. 25, and at Michigan State on Sunday, Sept. 27.

SERIES HISTORY - SOUTH FLORIDA
• Penn State is 4-0 in the all-time series with South Florida. The teams first played in 1986.
• The Nittany Lions swept the first three matches of the series, winning 3-0 in 1986, 1988, and 2015 in Tampa. The teams then met in the NCAA First Round last season in Austin, Texas, where the Nittany Lions won 3-1.
• Penn State and USF will play at Rec Hall for the first time.
• Kennedy Martin has hit .398 with 5.44 kills/set and 1.22 blocks/set in two career matches against South Florida, the first coming with Florida and the second last season with Penn State.

SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
• South Florida is 1-7 to start the season following five straight losses to then-No. 4 Stanford (3-1), Marquette (3-0), then-No. 11 TCU (3-0), Dayton (3-1), and Michigan (3-0).
• The Bulls were picked third in the 13-team American Conference Preseason Poll. Senior outside hitter Laila Ivey was named to the Preseason All-AC Team.
• South Florida ranks first in the American Conference in blocks/set (2.68). Amelia Wass de Czege ranks first individually in blocks/set (1.42), while Paula Tomasa ranks first in points/set (4.45).

PENN STATE VS. AMERICAN CONFERENCE
• Penn State is 33-4 all-time against current members of American Conference.
• The Nittany Lions have played eight of the 13 teams in the conference and have a winning record against all eight. They are unbeaten against UAB (1-0), Charlotte (1-0), East Caroline (3-0), Memphis (2-0), Rice (3-0), South Florida (4-0), and Wichita State (1-0).

SERIES HISTORY - TENNESSEE
• Penn State is 6-4 in the all-time series with Tennessee. The teams first played in 1982.
• The Nittany Lions won the most recent matchup with the Volunteers 3-1 in Knoxville during the 2024 season.
• Penn State is is 2-1 against Tennessee at Rec Hall. Sunday marks the first match between the teams in Happy Valley since 2005.
• Kennedy Martin has hit .386 with 5.56 kills/set and 2.00 digs/set in two career matches against the Volunteers, both while with Florida.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE
• Tennessee is ranked No. 16 in the nation and is 7-1 to start the season following back-to-back wins over Coastal Carolina (3-0) and Queens (3-0).
• The Volunteers are 2-0 against the Big Ten this season with wins over Illinois (3-0) and then-No. 21 Indiana (3-0).
• Tennessee was picked fifth in the 16-team SEC Preseason Poll. Redshirt senior setter Caroline Kerr was named to the Preseason All-SEC Team.
• The Volunteers rank first in the nation in kills/set (15.14). Kennedi Rogers ranks third in the nation individually in kills/set (4.89).

PENN STATE VS. SEC
• Penn State is 63-24 all-time against current members of the SEC.
• The Nittany Lions have played 14 of the 16 teams in the conference and have a winning record against 13 of those teams.
• Penn State is unbeaten against eight of the teams in the SEC, going a combined 19-0 against Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas A&M.