Women's Volleyball Opens NCAA Tournament Against USF on FridayWomen's Volleyball Opens NCAA Tournament Against USF on Friday

Women's Volleyball Opens NCAA Tournament Against USF on Friday

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 25 Penn State opens its 45th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a first-round match against USF on Friday at Texas's Gregory Gymnasium. The match is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET and will stream on ESPN+.

The winner of Friday's match advances to play the winner between Texas and Florida A&M in the second round on Saturday.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Friday, Dec. 5 | 5:30 p.m. ET
No. 25 Penn State (18-12, 12-8 B1G) vs. USF (17-12, 12-4 AAC) | Live Stats | ESPN+

OPENING NOTES
• Penn State is set to open its 45th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It is the only program in the country to play in all 45 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournaments since the inaugural event in 1981.
• The Nittany Lions received an eight seed in the Austin Region and will play the first and second rounds away from Rec Hall for just the first time since the tournament was expenaded to 64 teams in 1998.
• Friday marks Penn State’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and 13th postseason match under Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who is in her fourth season as Penn State head coach. They are 10-2 in the NCAA Tournament under Schumacher-Cawley after going 6-0 and winning the program’s eighth national title last season.
• The Nittany Lions made it to at least the NCAA Regional Semifinal in each of Schumacher-Cawley’s first three seasons as head coach.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Penn State, which has won eight national titles, including the most recent in 2024, is 116-35 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Penn State has made the National Semifinals 14 times and the National Championship match 11 times.
• USF and Penn State will meet for the first time in the NCAA Tournament, making the Bulls the 76th different postseason opponent for the Nittany Lions. Just eight of those teams have a winning record against Penn State in the NCAA Tournament.

PENN STATE IN ROUND OF 64
• Penn State is 26-0 in the NCAA Tournament round of 64 since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1998.
• The Lions are 78-3 in sets played during that stretch, dropping one set to Howard in 2017, one to Towson in 2021, and one to Yale last season.
• Rec Hall was the venue for 24 of the 26 matches.
• Penn State is 3-0 in the Round of 64 under Schumacher-Cawley, beating UMBC in 2022, Yale in 2023, and Delaware State in 2024.

HOW THEY GOT HERE - PENN STATE
• Penn State earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after going 18-12 overall and 12-8 in the Big Ten.
• The Nittany Lions are one of 14 teams in the nation with four wins over teams ranked in the top 25 of RPI, beating No. 6 Creighton, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 13 USC, and No. 15 Kansas.
• The Nittany Lions helped secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament with four wins in their final five matches, beating Ohio State (3-2), Michigan State (3-0), Maryland (3-0), and Iowa (3-1).

HOW THEY GOT HERE - USF
• USF received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after going 17-12 overall and 12-4 in the American Conference on its way to a second-place finish in the conference standings. The Bulls lost to Tulsa in the semifinal round of the American Conference Tournament.
• The Bulls will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. They beat Florida State in the first round that year before falling to Florida in the second round.
• USF’s highest RPI win came in conference play with a sweep over No. 36 Tulsa. The highest non-conference RPI win came in five sets over No. 47 Dayton. They also pushed Purdue to five sets before losing in their season opener.
• Senior outside hitter Maria Clara Andrade was named the American Conference Player of the Year for the second-straight season. She was joined on the all-conference team by sophomore setter Raegan Richardson (first team) and junior outside hitter Laila Ivey (second team).

SERIES HISTORY - USF
• Penn State is 3-0 in the all-time series with USF. The teams first played in 1986.
• The Nittany Lions swept all three matches, winning 3-0 in 1986, 1988, and 2015. All three matches were played in Tampa.
• Penn State and USF have never met in the NCAA Tournament.
• Kennedy Martin is the only player on the Penn State roster that has played against USF. She hit .449 with 27 kills, six blocks, and two aces in Florida’s 3-2 win over the Bulls in 2023.

PENN STATE VS. AMERICAN CONFERENCE
• Penn State is 32-4 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 (3-0), and Wichita State (1-0).

TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
• Eight Penn State players have combined for 50 matches of NCAA Tournament experience.
• Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley (1999) and assistant coach Megan Hodge Easy (2007, 2008, 2009) combined for four national titles as players at Penn State.

Catherine Burke - 1 match
Ava Falduto - 6 matches
Gillian Grimes - 12 matches
Jordan Hopp - 6 matches (2 Iowa State, 4 Penn State)
Caroline Jurevicius - 6 matches
Kennedy Martin - 5 matches (5 Florida)
Maggie Mendelson - 8 matches (2 Nebraska, 6 Penn State)
Jocelyn Nathan - 6 matches

 

 The 2025 Penn State women's volleyball season is presented by Musselman's.