Penn State women’s volleyball searching for a hat-trick with the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge
After six straight wins, sweeping both the Penn State Invitational and the Tiger Challenge, the Nittany Lions will look for their third tournament victory in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge this weekend.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, is hosting the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, where Penn State will play two matches.
Stanford (Friday 6 PM EST)
One year ago, Stanford and Penn State played a nail-biting match that resulted in a 3-2 loss for Penn State.
Since its season opener against Lipscomb, Stanford sophomore middle blocker Sami Francis has looked comfortable on the Pac-12 stage.
Francis put up 11 kills against Lipscomb, seven against Tennessee State and 12 against Florida, keeping up with senior opposite Kendall Kipp. In 14 sets this season, Kipp has an impressive 55 kills. This sophomore-senior duo is sure to challenge Penn State’s defense.
The Stanford Cardinal defense will need to withstand the attacks of Penn State sophomore Anjelina Starck. Starck hit a career-high 16 kills against West Virginia on Aug. 27, and has maintained double-digit kills in each following match: 12 against Iowa State, 10 against Troy and 13 against LSU.
Penn State has not won a match against Stanford since 2017, but first-year coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley could be the key to a Nittany Lion win against the Stanford Cardinal.
Oregon (Saturday 5:30 PM EST)
Oregon has shown dominance in its first two tournaments, the Rose City Showdown and the Oregon Invitational, going 4-0 to start the season. The Nittany Lions and the Ducks will go head-to-head to keep their winning streaks alive.
Senior outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller is a force to be reckoned with, not just offensively, but on the defensive end as well. She put up 28 kills and 12 digs against Long Beach State on Aug. 27, leading the Ducks to a 3-2 victory. She did it again on Sept. 3, racking up 20 kills and 15 digs in a five-set match against Rice. The Ducks pulled out the win 3-2.
Freshman outside hitter Mimi Colyer plays like a veteran alongside Nuneviller. Colyer has a season total of 62 kills, which is just two behind Nuneviller. The blue and white’s Starck and senior Zoe Weatherington will force Colyer to get creative in moving the ball past Penn State’s front row. Starck and Weatherington have put up a combined total of 17 blocks this season.
This matchup will be a battle of the back rows. On Sept. 3, Penn State junior libero Maddy Bilinovic had 21 digs against LSU, and Oregon junior Georgia Murphy had 23 digs against Rice.
In the three matches previous to LSU, Bilinovic had 19 digs against West Virginia, 13 against Iowa State and 10 against Troy. Comparatively, in the three matches leading up to Rice, Murphy had 12 digs against Long Beach State, 10 against Portland State and eight against UC Davis.
The Nittany Lions are looking for redemption after they swept a campaign ago.
McKenna Wall is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email mew6140@psu.edu.
