Women’s Volleyball
Penn State women’s volleyball begins is quest for a 9th national title this weekend in the AVCA First Serve. The No. 2 Nittany Lions will take on No. 12 Creighton on Saturday (5pm on FS1) and No. 14 Kansas on Monday (6:30pm on BTN) to open their fourth season under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley.
Replacing pin hitters Jess Mruzik and Camryn Hannah will be a challenge, but Penn State brought in two-time All-American Kennedy Martin and sophomore Emmi Sellman from the transfer portal. With Taylor
Trammell gone at middle blocker, Maggie Mendelson will step up as a full-time starter. Three Nittany Lions were named preseason All-Big Ten earlier this summer.
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team will look to rebound from a disastrous 2024 season. Penn State opens its season tonight at home against Stetson (5pm on Big Ten Plus).
Caden Grabfelder (9 goals in 2024) and Matthew Henderson (8 goals) are both back to lead an offense that returns 75% of its goals from last year. Kai Phillip comes in from the transfer portal after spending three seasons with Evansville. where he scored 15 goals. The Nittany Lions have lots of experience back and will look to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
Women’s Soccer (0-1)
The women’s soccer team dropped its season-opener to new No. 1 Duke 3-2 last Thursday. Duke controlled the flow of the game from start to finish and shut down Penn State’s attack in the second half.
After Duke scored in the fourth minute, Aubrey Kulpa answered immediately with a goal of her own to tie the game at 1. Penn State took the lead 12 minutes later when Hannah Jordan deflected in a perfectly-executed corner kick. The Blue Devils tied the game in the 24th minute after a Penn State turnover near midfield.
Duke scored the only goal of the second half on a corner kick in the 57th minute. The Nittany Lions had a chance to tie the game late, but a shot from Kaitlyn MacBean hit the goalpost. Duke outshot Penn State 28-8 in the match, including a 7-3 edge in shots on goal.
Penn State returns home for its non-conference homestand beginning tonight against No. 23 Saint Louis (8pm on Big Ten Plus). The Nittany Lions will then take on West Virginia on Sunday (3pm on BTN).
