Penn State Volleyball To Host UMBC In NCAA Tournament Opener

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

Penn State women’s volleyball received a No. 4 seed and will host UMBC in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Rec Hall.

Penn State is the only Division I program to make all 42 NCAA tournaments since 1981. No. 5 seed UCF and Yale will face off in the other first-round match at Rec Hall Friday. The Knights shared the AAC title with Houston, while the Bulldogs won the Ivy League for the first time since 2018.

Wisconsin, Pitt, and Florida are the other seeded teams, in order, in the top-right region of the bracket alongside the Nittany Lions, who earned one of 32 at-large bids. The selection committee seeded the top 32 teams instead of 16 for the first time this year.

The Nittany Lions (24-7, 13-7 Big Ten) won seven of their last eight matches to close out the regular season, beating Purdue 3-2 on senior night Friday for their fifth ranked win of the year. Penn State finished fifth in the conference.

Katie Clark

Graduate senior middle blocker Katie Clark currently ranks fifth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage at .366 after stepping into a starting role for the Nittany Lions following Taylor Trammell’s foot injury. Clark and the rest of Penn State’s seniors, including Leisa Elisaia, Kash Williams, and Anastasiya Kudryashova, were recognized after the Purdue match.

Elisaia is third in the Big Ten in assists per set at 10.38, trailing only Ohio State’s Mac Podraza (11.08) and Minnesota’s Melani Shaffmaster (10.48). Elisaia is the only Big Ten setter to surpass 1,200 assists so far this season, sitting at 1,214 heading into the tournament.

Kash Williams

Williams is ninth in the Big Ten in kills per set with 3.42 and leads the Nittany Lions with 380 kills. She has four matches with 20-plus kills in 2022, accomplishing the feat against a ranked opponent each time. The connection between Williams and Elisaia has been key to Penn State’s success this fall.

β€œIt’s really good,” Schumacher-Cawley said after the Purdue win. “They both have been working hard on that. I know sometimes Kash is up and down, but I think she finds a way to score points and get kills. I’m happy for both of them. We’ll get some things done this week and be ready to go for the weekend.”

Allie Holland

Allie Holland leads Penn State’s defense with 145 total blocks this season and is eighth in the conference in blocks per set at 1.37. She’s closing in on 300 career blocks, as she has 285 right now. Holland leads the team in service aces with 29. Holland has the most kills, blocks, digs, aces, and assists of any season during her Penn State career.

The Nittany Lions have also received significant contributions from freshmen

Alexa Markley

Alexa Markley and Gillian Grimes. Markley has 150 kills, 30 total blocks, and 22 digs in her debut season, while Grimes is a key part of Penn State’s defensive specialist rotation with 217 digs, 28 assists, and 24 aces. Grimes and sophomore Cassie Kuerschen have helped libero Maddy Bilinovic limit opponents to the second-least amount of aces in the Big Ten (behind only Nebraska).

The SEC led all conferences with seven teams selected to the 64-team field. The Big Ten tied the Pac-12 for the second most with six schools apiece making the postseason. Wisconsin was the lone Big Ten team to receive a No. 1 seed, while Minnesota and Nebraska earned No. 2 seeds. Ohio State is a No. 3 seed and will also host opening weekend like the Nittany Lions.