Penn State women’s volleyball now one win away from Big Ten title showdown

The entire season for Penn State women’s volleyball has been building towards a Friday, November 29, matchup with Nebraska at Rec Hall, and after another 2-0 weekend for Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s Nittany Lions, are just one win away. 

On Thursday night, Penn State took care of No. 8 Purdue at Rec Hall in a 3-0 sweep for Schumacher-Cawley’s 200th career win. Then, on Sunday afternoon, the Nittany Lions took down Washington 3-1 on Senior Day behind 19 kills from senior Camryn Hannah. Junior libero Gillian Grimes had back-to-back excellent performances with 20 digs against the Boilermakers and 17 more to help hold the Huskies to a 0.124 hitting percentage. 

Those wins brought the No. 4 Nittany Lions to 27-2 on the season and 17-1 in conference play. The team’s only loss in the Big Ten was to now No. 6 Wisconsin, which has suffered three conference losses, and last season knocked Penn State out of the NCAA Tournament. That leaves 17-1 Penn State alone in second place and just one game back of the No. 2 team in the country Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are 28-1 and 18-0 in conference play with just two matches remaining, the first of which is a trip to Happy Valley. 

While Penn State faces Rutgers on Wednesday and wraps up the regular season on Friday, the Huskers finish with Maryland in College Park on Saturday, but by then the conference title and automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament could have already been decided. 

If the Nittany Lions can beat the 6-23 (1-17) last-place Scarlet Knights on Wednesday night in Piscataway then Friday’s head-to-head will be for the the Big Ten title. If Nebraska wins and deals Penn State its second loss, the Huskers will clinch the crown regardless of Saturday’s outcome in College Park. If Penn State beats Rutgers and then takes down Nebraska at Rec Hall on Friday, the two teams will tie at 19-1, but Penn State will have the head-to-head result. 

The Nittany Lions are in search of the program’s 18th Big Ten title, by far the most in conference history and their first since 2017. After securing two wins this past weekend, they’re just two wins away.