Penn State prepares to host back-to-back Big Ten matches against Maryland and No. 11 Oregon

As the calendar flips to October, conference play has started in earnest across the world of women’s volleyball. For the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions, Big Ten competition kicked off with a “big” statement.

Playing in West Lafayette against No. 10 Purdue, Penn State put on arguably its best performance of the season so far with a dominant 3-0 win over the Boilermakers.

But if anybody thought that Big Ten play was going to be a cakewalk for one of the nation’s top-ranked teams, that was quickly disproven on Sunday. Penn State dropped the first set of its conference home-opener against Michigan State, and the Spartans continued to scrap throughout the contest before the Nittany Lions ultimately took a 3-1 win.

“Every team, we’ll get their best,” coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said following Sunday’s match. “I think that’s what makes this conference so great. Every match is exciting, and you’ve got to be focused and ready to go.”

The next teams on the docket for Penn State to be ready for are Maryland and Oregon. The Nittany Lions host both teams this week, with the Terrapins coming to town Thursday before the annual “Wear White” match against the No. 11 Ducks on Friday.

Penn State will still take plenty of momentum from those two victories last week into the upcoming matches. After a record-breaking 29-kill performance against the Spartans, outside hitter Jess Mruzik was named as Co-Big Ten Player of the Week.

Mruzik’s 29 kills versus Michigan State were the most by a Penn State player in a single match since Jonni Parker had 29 in a five-set win versus Minnesota in 2018. Beyond that, Mruzik’s tally of kills was the most ever by a Penn State player in a four-set match since the beginning of the 25-point rally-scoring era in 2008.

After collecting a trio of Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards, setter Izzy Starck picked up her first-career Big Ten Setter of the Week honor on Monday as well. Starck averaged 13.29 assists/set while leading the Nittany Lions to a .296 hitting percentage across both matches.

Penn State’s middles are also coming off strong performances against Michigan State. Maggie Mendelson racked up a career-high 14 kills on .480 hitting, while Taylor Trammell had 10 kills and six blocks in Sunday’s four-setter.

After winning eight consecutive non-conference matches, the Maryland Terrapins dropped both of their first two matches in Big Ten play, losing to Northwestern and Iowa in five sets each.

But regardless of Maryland’s struggles, there’s one thing that Penn State will need to be wary of, and that’s the potency of Samantha Schnitta behind the service line. The graduate hitter had a career-high seven aces against Iowa and led the NCAA with 44 for the season.

Perhaps it’s fair to say that Oregon’s “welcome to the Big Ten” moment could come this weekend. The Ducks – winners of home matches against Illinois and Indiana last weekend – will first get Ohio State on Thursday before traveling to the surely hostile confines of Rec Hall Friday night.

But this is an Oregon team that went to the Elite Eight last year. Like Penn State, Oregon has one loss this season. And like Penn State, that loss came to the now-unanimous No. 1 team in the country, the Pitt Panthers.

Former AVCA National Freshman of the Year Mimi Colyer leads the offensive attack for the Ducks and does have some experience playing against Penn State, as she had 13 kills when the Nittany Lions took a 3-2 win in a neutral site match back in 2022.

But the atmosphere of Rec Hall could prove to be a difference maker this weekend, as the Nittany Lions will look to best their new conference rival with another ranked win in front of a sea of white-wearing fans.

Kasey Kreider is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email kmk6865@psu.edu.