Nittany Lion sports are back, and as it is in the beginning of every season, Penn State is off to a hot start. Four sports are in action already: men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and field hockey. Women’s soccer kicked the year off last weekend with wins over Hofstra and Loyola Marymount, then nine additional events were held this past weekend.

No. 7 field hockey had a surprising rough start to the season. Following an exhibition win over Drexel, the Nittany Lions lost their opener at No. 16 Old Dominion 2-1, despite almost doubling up the other team in shots. Two days later, No. 9 Virginia took the Lions out 4-3 in overtime in a heartbreaking loss. Despite high preseason expectations, Penn State has opened the season with two losses and will look to right the ship in their home opener against Temple at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Inversely, the dynasty that is Penn State women’s volleyball is — you guessed it — 3-0 and hasn’t dropped a set yet. Rec Hall played host to the Penn State Classic this past weekend and lucky Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Villanova got to open their seasons in the best environment in college volleyball. Friday night, an hour-long sweep over Buffalo gave the back-to-back defending National Champions their first win of 2015. The next day was a doubleheader against Stony Brook in the afternoon, then a matchup of two undefeated teams in Penn State and Villanova at night. Russ Rose was displeased with how his team played at some moments, but three wins are three wins.

Both soccer teams had successful weekends as well. The women’s team continued its solid start to the season with a scoreless draw against Duke before a 4-2 eruption against Arkansas. The No. 24 men’s team started its campaign off with two goals in two games — the first of which was scored late in the second half in a 1-0 win against San Francisco, the second of which was scored in a 1-1 draw with Navy.

Penn State’s athletic teams are some of the best in the country, and the first week of classes gave a good stage to showcase them. All four sports will be back in action this upcoming weekend, along with season-openers for football, women’s cross country, and women’s golf. Stay tuned with us for more coverage of Penn State sports.