OMAHA, Neb. – Penn State continues play in the 2020-21 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament with a Regional Semifinal matchup with fourth-seeded Texas on Sunday at 5 p.m. (ET). The 13th-seeded Nittany Lions reached the round of 16 with a win over North Carolina A&T on Thursday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Sunday, April 18 | 5 p.m. (ET)
ESPNU | Live Stats
OPENING NOTES
• Penn State continues its 40th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a Regional Semifinal match against fourth-seeded Texas.
• The Lions are the only team to compete in all 40 NCAA Division I NCAA Tournaments.
• All 40 NCAA Tournament appearances by Penn State have come with Russ Rose as head coach.
• Penn State is in the Regional Semifinal round for the 18th-consecutive season.
SCOUTING TEXAS
• Texas ranked No. 5 in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll.
• The Longhorns went a perfect 14-0 and won the Big 12 title while playing in the fall. They went 9-1 in the spring and then added a 3-0 win over Wright State in the NCAA Second Round on Thursday.
• The lone loss for Texas came in five sets to Rice on March 23.
• Seventeen of the Longhorns' 24 wins came in three sets.
• Texas ranks fourth in the nation in hitting percentage (.335).
• Brionne Butler ranks first in the nation in total blocks (133). She averages 1.58/set.
SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State is 11-8 all-time against Texas in a series that began in 1982.
• The Longhorns opened the series with six straight wins from 1982-89, but the Lions responded with 10 straight victories from 1990-2010. Texas won in 2011, Penn State won in 2012, and Texas won in 2013.
• Penn State is 2-0 against Texas in the NCAA Tournament. The Lions beat the Longhorns in the 2009 championship match and then beat them again in 2010 in the semifinal round before going on to beat Cal for the national title.
PENN STATE AGAINST THE BIG 12
• Penn State is 50-8 all-time against current members of the Big 12.
• The Lions are 11-8 against Texas and a perfect 39-0 against the other seven teams they have played — Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, TCU and West Virginia.
LEADER IN NCAA TOURNAMENT WINS
• Russ Rose leads all head coaches with 105 wins in the NCAA Division I Tournament. He reached the century mark with a 3-0 win over Syracuse in the 2018 NCAA Second Round.
COACHING STAFF WINS TITLES
• Penn State is the only team in Division I in which the entire coaching staff has won a DI women's national title either as a player or coach.
• Russ Rose has won seven national titles as head coach of Penn State.
• Dennis Hohenshelt has won four national titles as an assistant coach at Penn State.
• Katie Schumacher-Cawley won a national title as a player for the Lions in 1999.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Big Ten Setter of the Week (1) – Gabby Blossom (3/15)
Penn State Student-Athlete of the Week (1) – Gabby Blossom (3/17)
BIG TEN LEADS WAY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Six Big Ten teams appeared in the top 12 of the most recent AVCA national rankings — No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 3 Minnesota, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Purdue and No. 12 Penn State.
UP NEXT
• If Penn State wins, the Lions would play the winner between fifth-seeded Nebraska and 12th-seeded Baylor on Monday.
