Big Ten Releases Penn State Volleyball’s 2024 Conference Schedule

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

The new-look Big Ten released the 20-match conference schedules for its 18 volleyball programs Wednesday afternoon.

Penn State will begin its Big Ten slate on the road at Purdue on Wednesday, September 25. The Nittany Lions will welcome Nebraska to Rec Hall to wrap up the regular season on Friday, November 29. Penn State will play Maryland, Michigan State, and Purdue both home and away and the remaining 14 teams only once.

Despite the addition of four former Pac-12 programs in USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon, and the already grueling nature of Big Ten volleyball, the Nittany Lions drew a favorable conference schedule this season given the spacing of their opponents and which teams they only face at home in Rec Hall.

Penn State’s trip to Wisconsin on Saturday, November 9 will very likely be the Nittany Lions’ most difficult away match of their conference schedule in 2024, as Penn State lost to the Badgers in Madison in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament the last two seasons. The Nittany Lions beat then-No. 2 Wisconsin 3-1 on November 11, 2023 at Rec Hall.

Following a pair of losses to Nebraska last season, including a narrow five-set loss to the Huskers at home last November, Penn State does not travel to Lincoln this fall. The Nittany Lions will instead will try to snap a seven-match losing streak in the series the day after Thanksgiving in the friendly confines of Rec Hall.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley enters her third season as head coach of the Nittany Lions with perhaps the deepest roster talent-wise she’s had since taking over her alma mater following Russ Rose’s retirement after the 2021 season. Penn State will have its first true freshman starting setter since Micha Hancock in 2011 when Izzy Starck takes the floor in the season opener.

“I think they understand what they need to do and I think that they’re holding each other accountable, really pushing themselves to be better,” Schumacher-Cawley said following the first of two spring exhibitions against Pitt. “We have a really good, core group returning from last year. I think they understand the value of being ready to go right from the start. They need to continue to do that the rest of this spring and throughout the summer.”

Schumacher-Cawley also discussed the importance of Jess Mruzik, Camryn Hannah, and Taylor Trammell electing to use their fifth and final season of collegiate eligibility with the Nittany Lions in 2024. All three could have chosen to begin their pro volleyball careers following the 2023 season, but the desire to make a deeper run in the NCAA tournament and hunt the program’s eighth NCAA national championship likely drove them to return.

“It’s great,” Schumacher-Cawley said after a 3-2 win over Pitt in April. “They’ve worked hard and I think they’re excited to have one more season to play here at Penn State. I’m happy for them and looking forward to having them here this fall.”

The third annual Big Ten volleyball media days will again take place at the Big Ten Network headquarters in Chicago August 5-6. Schumacher-Cawley and two yet-to-be-named Penn State players are scheduled to speak on day one of the event alongside eight other teams.

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Here’s the full 2024 Big Ten schedule for the Nittany Lions:

Wed. Sept. 25: at Purdue

Sun. Sept. 29: Michigan State

Thurs. Oct. 3: Maryland

Fri. Oct. 4: Oregon

Fri. Oct. 11: at Michigan State

Sun. Oct. 13: at Indiana

Fri. Oct. 18: at Ohio State

Sun. Oct. 20: Minnesota

Thurs. Oct. 24: at UCLA

Sat. Oct. 26: at USC

Wed. Oct. 30: Michigan

Sat. Nov. 2: Iowa

Fri. Nov. 8: at Northwestern

Sat. Nov. 9: at Wisconsin

Fri. Nov. 15: Illinois

Sun. Nov. 17: at Maryland

Thurs. Nov. 21: Purdue

Sun. Nov. 24: Washington

Wed. Nov. 27: at Rutgers

Fri. Nov. 29: Nebraska