Penn State volleyball's offseason reload is causing waves in the Big Ten already

The Big Ten released its volleyball preseason honors, which features a Preseason Coaches Poll and Preseason All-Conference Team.

Penn State women's volleyball finished 12-8 in the conference in 2025 and 19-13 overall, which was a tough blow after winning the national championship just a year prior. After an average performance against South Florida, the Nittany Lions couldn't upset Texas in the second round and went back to the drawing board.

Penn State finished seventh in the Big Ten in 2025. That chapter is clearly behind as it came in as No. 3 in the Big Ten Coaches Poll.

Nebraska and Wisconsin were the top two teams in the poll with the Cornhuskers being the unanimous choice for No. 1. The Badgers made it all the way to the semifinals in 2025, ultimately losing to Kentucky 3-2.

Heading into 2026, head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley's reloaded roster looks more intimidating and like it can compete with the top teams in the conference once again, even those that made it far into the tournament.

Penn State volleyball ranks No. 3 on Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll

Kennedy Martin, who transferred from Florida for the 2025 season, is a critical returning piece for Schumacher-Cawley. She was a unanimous selection for the Preseason All-Conference Team as well after leading the Nittany Lions in kills (634) and total points (728) by a wide margin.

This season, Martin will be reunited with her former setter at Florida, Alexis Stucky. Stucky was Penn State's only other player on the All-Conference Team. She was second-team All-SEC selection in 2025 after playing in 103 sets (28 matches, 27 starts) and accumulating 1,062 assists, 249 digs, 52 blocks, and 22 aces.

At 6-foot-2, Stucky is already at an advantage compared to former Nittany Lion Addie Lyon (5-foot-9). There were a lot of inconsistencies during matches due to Lyon's height, so fixing that at the net was key. For their final season, Stucky and Martin's connection should be a lot smoother.

Penn State also didn't have a lot of consistency elsewhere at the net either.

Martin was really the only guarantee when it came to attacking, whether she was in the front or back row. Caroline Jurevicius didn't have enough experience to fill the shoes of former Nittany Lion Jess Mruzik who led the blue and white to a national title in 2024, and Emmi Sellman who transferred from Ohio State wasn't as refined as Penn State needed. Especially without Izzy Stark setting, there were a lot of little mistakes that piled up when it came to offense.

Schumacher-Cawley brought in outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein from Texas to help fix that, and both Sellman and Jurevicius should have taken a step up in their games too this offseason. Alexis Ewing and Gabrielle Nichols had some bright spots during their freshman seasons. So, all-in-all, there should be more consistency at the net.

In the back row, losing libero Gillian Grimes is major, but junior Ava Falduto sliding into that role shouldn't be a drastic drop off from Grimes. Jocelyn Nathan and Lexi Gin also back there is huge help.

It's not surprising to see the Nittany Lions place third in this preseason poll. This is an exciting team, and that Martin-Stucky duo will be especially dangerous on the court.

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