No. 3 Women’s Volleyball Heads West for Matches at UCLA and USC – Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 3 Penn State gets its first look at the new era of the Big Ten as the Nittany Lions travel across the country to play two of the conference’s newcomers. The Nittany Lions play at UCLA on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, and then play at No. 16 USC on Saturday at 11 p.m. ET. Both matches will air live on B1G Network.

The Nittany Lions enter at 16-1 overall and join Nebraska as one of two unbeaten teams in the Big Ten at 8-0 thanks to wins over Ohio State and No. 14 Minnesota last week.

Penn State takes a 14-match Big Ten regular season winning streak into the weekend. Their last regular season loss in conference play came to Purdue on Nov. 5, 2023. It is the longest active streak of any Big Ten team.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Thursday, Oct. 24 – 9 p.m. ET
#3 Penn State (18-1, 8-0 B1G) at UCLA (9-8, 3-5 B1G) | Live Stats | B1G Network

Saturday, Oct. 26 – 11 p.m. ET
#3 Penn State (18-1, 8-0 B1G) at #16 USC (14-4, 6-2 B1G) | Live Stats | B1G Network

SERIES HISTORY – UCLA
• Penn State is 6-7 in the all-time series with UCLA. The teams first played in 1983.
• The Nittany Lions won each of the past two meetings with the Bruins, winning a regular season match 3-0 in 2014 and then sweeping them again in the NCAA Regional Semifinal that same season.
• Penn State will play UCLA at Pauley Pavilion for the first time in program history. Eleven of the 13 matchups in the series were played at a neutral site.
• No current Penn State player has played a match against UCLA.

SCOUTING UCLA
• UCLA is 9-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten following a 3-0 win at Northwestern.
• The Bruins were picked eighth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll. Graduate student middle blocker Anna Dodson was named Preseason All-Big Ten. She was an AVCA All-American last season and is a three-time All-Pac 12 honoree.
• UCLA’s top win in non-conference play came at then-No. 14 Georgia Tech in the season opener.

SERIES HISTORY – USC
• Penn State is 2-2 in the all-time series with USC. The teams first played in 1980.
• The teams haven’t played each other since 2011. The Nittany Lions won that match in five sets.
• Penn State is 0-1 in road matches against USC, losing to the Trojans in the 2000 NCAA Regional Final.

SCOUTING USC
• USC is ranked 16th in the nation and is 14-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten following three straight wins over UCLA (3-2), Maryland (3-0), and Rutgers (3-0).
• The Trojans were picked seventh in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll. Senior setter Mia…