MATCH DAY: No. 10 Women's Volleyball at Maryland and at No. 25 Illinois

OPENING NOTES
• No. 10 Penn State goes on the road for two Big Ten matches this week. The Nittany Lions travel to College Park to take on Maryland on Wednesday and then head to Champaign to play No. 25 Illinois on Saturday.
• Both matches will stream on B1G+.
• With the addition of a Big Ten Tournament in 2026, the conference regular season schedule has been shortened to 17 matches with every team playing each other one time.
• Penn State was picked third in the 2026 Big Ten Preseason Poll.  Minnesota was voted fifth, while Wisconsin was second.
• The Nittany Lions sit in a three-way tie for second place through 14 matches of the Big Ten schedule, but hold the tiebreaker against both Oregon and Wisconsin. The Terrapins are in a two-way tie for 15th, while the Illini are in a four-way tie for fifth.
• Penn State has clinched a spot and a at least a bye into the second round of the 15-team Big Ten Tournament. The top four teams in the standings will have a double bye in to the quarterfinals, while teams fifth through ninth through ninth will get a bye in to the second round.

LAST TIME OUT
• Penn State went on the road and took down two nationally-ranked Big Ten Opponents, winning 3-1 at No. 19 Minnesota and 3-2 at No. 7 Wisconsin.
• Kennedy Martin recorded her 2,000th career kill while leading Penn State to the win over the Gophers. She was dominant, hitting .500 with 34 kills, 12 digs, and two blocks. Alexis Stucky also recorded a double-double, totaling 55 assists and 15 digs while guiding the team to .394 hitting. Whitney Lauenstein hit .348 with 10 kills, while Emmi Selmman contributed nine kills on .320 hitting.
• Martin stayed hot in the win over the Badgers, hitting .328 with 28 kills, 12 digs, and three aces. Stucky again racked up 55 assists and made it a double-double with 12 digs while helping the Nittany Lions hit .307 as a team. Lauenstein finished with 15 kills. The middles were strong as Kendall Northern hit .429 with nine kills and five blocks, while Gabrielle Nichols hit .429 with eight kills and three blocks.

SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State is 37-5-1 in the all-time series with Maryland. The teams first played in 1976.
• The Nittany Lions have won 34 straight matches against the Terrapins, with the last loss coming in 1979.
•  Penn State is 12-2 against Maryland in College Park.
• The Nittany Lions are 7-0 against the Terrapins under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, including two wins last season.
• Kennedy Martin has hit .400 with 4.63 kills and 2.75 digs per set in her two career matches against Maryland.

SCOUTING MARYLAND
• Maryland is 13-12 overall and 3-11 in the Big Ten following a 3-1 loss to Michigan in its most recent match.
• The Gophers’ top win in non-conference play based on RPI came by a 3-1 score over Arkansas, which enters the week ranked No. 100 in the RPI.
• Maryland was picked 18th in the 18-team Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Sara Toth ranks fifth in the Big Ten in assists/set (10.57).