UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Postseason volleyball is back at Rec Hall for the first time since 2019. Penn State received a No. 4 seed in its region of the NCAA Division I Tournament and will host UMBC, No. 5 seed UCF, and Yale for the first two rounds.
Penn State, which is ranked No. 11 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, received an at-large bid to the event and will play in the tournament for the 42nd consecutive season dating back to the first time it was held in 1981. It is the only women’s volleyball program in the country to appear in every NCAA Division I Tournament.
Up first for Penn State is a first-round matchup with UMBC on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The first match at Rec Hall is between UCF and Yale at 5 p.m. The winners of the two matches will meet on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Penn State enters the postseason with a 24-7 overall record. The Lions finished fifth in the Big Ten at 13-7. They were one of the hottest teams in the conference down the stretch, winning seven of their final eight matches, including three over ranked teams. The lone loss during that stretch came in five sets to Wisconsin, which received a No. 1 seed in the same quadrant of the bracket as Penn State. If the Lions win their two matches at Rec Hall, they would likely meet the Badgers in Madison in the NCAA Regional Semifinal.
Three conference champions will join Penn State in Happy Valley. UMBC is 17-8 overall after winning its third-straight America East title with a sweep over New Hampshire. UCF is 27-1 overall and shared the American Athletic Conference title with Houston after splitting the regular season series between the teams. Yale is 23-2 overall after beating Brown 3-1 in the championship match of the Ivy League Tournament.
Penn State has played its opening-round opponent three times, beating UMBC in 1981, 2004 and 2018. The teams will meet in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
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