No. 10 Penn State women's volleyball opened its 2026 season with a 2-0 loss to No. 11 SMU on Thursday night in the Spikes Under the Lights tournament at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium.
Though the Nittany Lions were technically swept, the results of the tournament didn't count towards their overall season record, so it was a good assessment match for head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley.
Penn State entered the 2025 season as the reigning national champions, but struggled to live up to standards as more unexperienced players were thrown into the fire as the team's new starters. That paired with the absence of setter Izzy Stark made it difficult for the Nittany Lions to find a rhythm and
This time around, Schumacher-Cawley hit the Transfer Portal hard and she didn't focus on young talent, either. Instead, she brought in graduate students, setter Alexis Stucky from Florida and outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein from Texas, and junior middle blocker Ryla Jones from Pittsburgh.
Despite losing the first match of the season, Penn State looked older and more experienced. This game allowed Schumacher-Cawley to see where her team struggles the most — which is primarily putting all the new pieces together. Over the match, Stucky and Jones developed a better rhythm on the court, and her connection with right side hitter Kennedy Martin picked up where it left off when the two were last with the Gators in 2024.
The Nittany Lions pushed the Mustangs in the first set, ultimately falling 24-22. Each set was played to 21 points, but the same rule of "win by two" applied. In set two, Penn State lost 21-18.
Winner: Whitney Lauenstein
Lauenstein was nearly perfect on Thursday. Her first attack error of the night was on the final point of the first set, and from then, she only tallied an additional two in the second set. She had 12 kills and three errors on 20 attempts. Lauenstein finished with a .450 attacking percentage and tacked on three digs and one block as well. Her 12 kills and 12.5 points (including the assisted block) led the team in both categories despite getting five less opportunities up at the net than Martin.
Lauenstein's experienced showed on and off the court. During timeouts, she led the huddle around the Nittany Lions' bench, and the announcers of the match even noted how her leadership was impressive as a first-year player at Penn State.
On the court, Lauenstein was smart with her choices. She showed up in big moments, taking risky but calculated swings that veered in her favor. She recognized the blocks in front of her and took advantage of the space whether it was tipping over the block or splitting blocks on big swings.
Losers: Defense and blocking
Without libero Gillian Grimes, the defense looked a little shaky on Thursday. Junior Ava Falduto, who is now sporting that libero jersey, looked good, but not elite. She totaled seven digs, just two more than Stucky (five), who isn't even a defensive specialist.
Falduto has the experience to be a great libero, but first game jitters were definitely there and communication is key moving forward. There were a few out-of-system plays that, while experienced hitters in the front row can manage, have to be limited. The other defensive specialists, Lexi Gin and Jocelyn Nathan, have to step up as well. Nathan had just one dig in the match and Gin had zero.
Blocking didn't necessarily help the defensive players, though. Since there are a few new faces on the roster, including some freshmen, the rhythm up at the net to block isn't quite there yet. The team didn't tally a blocking error, but there were a few split block opportunities that the Mustangs took advantage of. Rather than slow down the attack, the blocks forced balls to fall in odd places that were difficult to retrieve, especially for the taller players like Martin and Stucky.
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