Penn State Women’s Volleyball Weekend Preview
After starting off the season 11-0 in non-conference play, rookie head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley and her team have seen some struggles as of late.
Through six conference matches, the Nittany Lions have compiled a 3-3 record, defeating Indiana, Michigan State and Illinois while falling short against Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Coming off a big victory in their match with the Illinois Fighting Illini in a clean three-set sweep last Sunday afternoon, Penn State looks to continue their momentum into the weekend on the road against two more Big Ten opponents.
On Friday, Oct. 14, it’ll be one of the toughest matchups of the season so far as they face the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
This will be the fifth time this season that the Nittany Lions will face a ranked opponent.
They are currently 2-2 in those matchups, reigning victorious over Stanford and Oregon but coming up short against rivals Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Nebraska currently sits at a 14-1 overall record and an undefeated 6-0 against conference opponents which is good enough to have them ranked as the number three team in the country.
The Cornhusker’s potent defense thus far has allowed them to sit atop the Big Ten leaderboards in digs per set with 15.04 and opponent kills per set with just 10.39, so a big challenge looms for the group of Penn State attackers led by transfer standout Kashauna Williams.
The NIttany Lions look to change the narrative in this rivalry, as they have dropped four straight matches to the Huskers dating back to 2018.
Adding some more fire to this rivalry, former Nittany Lion Kaitlyn Hord will be facing off against her previous team for the first time since transferring to Nebraska last January.
Upon their departure from Lincoln, Nebraska, Penn State will head to the University of Iowa to face off against the Hawkeyes in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Like the Nittany Lions, Iowa is coming off a victory in their last matchup, taking down the Indiana Hoosiers in a five-set thriller.
However, that’s where the comparisons end.
Iowa is unranked, sitting at a 7-10 record and have been swept in three sets in five of those matches.
In conference play, they’re no better, as they sit second to last in the Big Ten standings with a 1-5 record.
Their lone victory coming in that last matchup against Indiana.
The only other teams in the Big Ten who have yet to pick up a second win against a conference opponent are Michigan State, Maryland, and Rutgers.
These two programs have been facing off on the hardwood since 1991 and Penn State has yet to lose a match, sitting at a 56-0 all-time record against the Iowa Hawkeyes as they look to continue the trend at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Jakob Schnur is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jks6463@psu.edu.
