Penn State Women’s Volleyball Opens NCAA Tournament Thursday Against Yale
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Penn State Women’s Volleyball is set to compete in the NCAA Tournament for the 43rd consecutive season when it travels to Lawrence, Kansas to take on Yale on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The match will be played at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena and will stream on ESPN+.
Penn State, which is the only school to compete in every NCAA Division I Tournament since it started in 1981, enters as the No. 14 team in the AVCA Coaches Poll and received a five seed in the Madison Region portion of the bracket. If the Nittany Lions defeat Yale, they would play the winner between fourth-seeded Kansas and Omaha on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The Nittany Lions enter the tournament at 21-8 overall after winning their final six matches of the regular season to finish 15-5 and tied for third in the Big Ten. Yale, which is 21-3 overall, went a perfect 14-0 in the Ivy League before beating Harvard and Brown to win the conference tournament and earn an automatic bid to the postseason.
Kansas received an at-large bid to the tournament after going 23-5 overall and 14-4 in the Big 12. The Jayhawks won their final five matches of the regular season, including victories over No. 23 Baylor and No. 13 BYU. The Jayhawks’ opponent, Omaha, earned an automatic bid to the postseason after defeating Denver and Kansas City in the Summit League Championship. The Mavericks are 15-13 overall.
Tickets for the First and Second Rounds go on sale Monday at 1 p.m. ET. Check the Kansas Women’s Volleyball page for links/updates.
SERIES HISTORY – YALE
• Penn State is 10-0 in the all-time series with Yale. The teams first played in 1978.
• The Nittany Lions are a perfect 29-0 in sets played against the Bulldogs.
• The teams last played in 2017. Penn State won that match 3-0 (25-9, 25-21, 25-11) at Rec Hall.
• Penn State has played Yale one time in the NCAA Tournament, winning the lone matchup 3-0 in 2008.
SERIES HISTORY – KANSAS
• Penn State is 1-0 in the all-time series with Kansas.
• The Nittany Lions won the lone meeting 3-0 in 2014. That match was played at Villanova.
SERIES HISTORY – OMAHA
• Penn State has never played Omaha.
