Penn State Women’s Volleyball Pauses All Team-Related Activities

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

Penn State women’s volleyball announced Sunday evening that it has paused all team-related activities through at least January 31 due to positive COVID-19 test results among Tier 1 personnel in its program.

As a result of the pause and previous postponement of Penn State’s opening weekend series against Michigan, the Nittany Lions will not play their first four scheduled matches of the 2021 spring season.

Penn State was supposed to host Ohio State Tuesday night at Rec Hall in its home opener, then travel to Columbus for another match against the Buckeyes Sunday, but both contests will no longer take place on the originally scheduled dates.

The program said it is working with the Big Ten conference to potentially reschedule the matches. No determination has been made on whether or not the Nittany Lions will be able to resume team activities in time to compete against Illinois February 5-6 at Rec Hall.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and the broader community are of the utmost importance,” the program said in a press release. “Therefore, as part of the protocols established by the Big Ten Conference and Penn State Athletics medical staff and in consultation with university, local and national officials and guidelines, individuals with a positive test have been put into isolation. In addition to isolation, contact tracing procedures have been implemented, which includes quarantine and testing for those individuals who might have been exposed, even if asymptomatic.”

The University of Michigan on Saturday paused all sports, including women’s volleyball, for at least 14 days due to a COVID-19 outbreak within its athletic department. The Wolverines will not compete or have access to their training facilities during the pause. All athletes and athletic personnel were ordered to immediately quarantine until as late as February 7.

Penn State and Michigan were the only Big Ten programs that did not compete during opening weekend of the women’s volleyball season. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio State, and Northwestern all won both of their matches. The Nittany Lions hope to eventually begin their season Week 3, but it may be difficult to reschedule their postponed matches due to an already tight schedule.