Penn State women’s volleyball preview: Penn State Invitational

As the No. 3 team in the nation in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, the Penn State Nittany Lions women’s volleyball team has broken new ground in the Katie Schumacher-Cawley era, with that aforementioned ranking being the highest that the blue and white have reached under her leadership.

Three top-15 wins have highlighted the early stages of Penn State’s season. Two of those victories came on the road, with the Nittany Lions taking down No. 15 Tennessee in their season-opener before beating No. 9 Kentucky in a reverse sweep last Friday.

However, the most impressive triumph of the season – and perhaps the biggest win to date of Schumacher-Cawley’s tenure – came in Penn State’s only home match so far this year, when the Nittany Lions took down No. 4 Louisville in a sweep in front of an electric Rec Hall crowd.

With a 5-0 record and seemingly all the momentum in the world, the Nittany Lions come back to Rec Hall this weekend for the first of back-to-back tournaments. Six matches in total amongst the four participating teams will highlight packed days of play on both Friday and Saturday.

The Nittany Lions start their play in the tournament with a nationally televised match against Duke on Friday at 8:30 p.m.

Penn State then plays twice on Saturday, starting with a match bright and early in the morning at 10:30 a.m. against Princeton. The final match of the tournament takes place between Penn State and St. John’s at 6:30 p.m.

The Nittany Lions will have to deal with a quick turnaround between the Friday night contest and Saturday morning’s match. During media availability on Tuesday, Schumacher-Cawley indicated that Penn State’s depth will come into play as they try to keep fresh legs on the court.

“These kids are used to playing multiple matches,” coach Schumacher-Cawley said. “But we have depth, and we have a lot of people that can help and contribute. Everyone will have their opportunity this weekend to step up and do their job.”

For Penn State, a lot of eyes will continue to be on freshman setter and top recruit Izzy Starck. Starck has facilitated the Nittany Lion offense to a .322 hitting percentage through her first five games, and has already picked up back-to-back Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.

Of course, having accomplished pin hitters Jess Mruzik and Camryn Hannah to set the ball to, along with the emerging middle duo of Taylor Trammell and Maggie Mendelson, has helped give Starck many different places to go with the volleyball.

The Duke Blue Devils come into the tournament 3-3 on the season. However, they may have found themselves with a budding superstar in their own right, as middle hitter Breonna Goss was named the ACC’s Freshman of the Week following a 27-kill, 11-block performance across three Duke matches last week.

The Princeton Tigers are led into this weekend by a strong sophomore class that includes outside hitter Erin McNair and libero Sydney Bold. Both of those players were named to the Villanova Classic All-Tournament Team following Princeton’s 2-1 record in last weekend’s season-opening matches.

The St. John’s Red Storm enter Happy Valley with a 5-2 record so far this season. Junior opposite hitter Erin Jones has double-digit kills in each of her last six matches and has led St. John’s in the kill department four times this season.

With a massive matchup looming against No. 1 Pitt next Wednesday, the Nittany Lions will look to take care of business on their home court against their trio of opponents before traveling to the Steel City in hopes of making another early-season statement.

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