James Franklin’s team finally had its bye week, so other Penn State athletics were able to share the spotlight for the weekend. The Nittany Lions relished yet another successful showing on all fronts except, shockingly, women’s volleyball.

Defying the superstitious stigma that comes with Friday the 13th, Penn State showed its talent and had a little bit of luck with a 4-0-1 record. The women’s soccer team kick-started the weekend with a shut out victory over Albany in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. The 5-0 victory at Jeffrey Field pushes Erica Walsh’s team through to the second round, which will take place at Jeffrey Field against Boston University at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

Penn State wrestling dominated Lock Haven with a 50-0 shutout in the season-opener in Rec Hall on Friday night. The Nittany Lions later clinched a 21-15 win in Blacksburg on Sunday against No. 6 Virginia Tech. Cael Sanderson opted to forfeit redshirting linebacker Jan Johnson’s match in the 285 weight class since Penn State had clinched the win by that point.

The Lady Lions opened their season Friday night with an overtime matchup with the Holy Cross Crusaders in the Bryce Jordan Center. Despite a couple of comebacks from the Crusaders, the Lady Lions were able to seize an 86-82 victory. The Lady Lions defeated the Fordham Rams 75-59 on Sunday night in Happy Valley to start the season 2-0, already closing in on last year’s win total of six.

Saturday’s athletics began early with second day of the Penn State-Princeton-UConn tri-meet for both the men and women’s swim teams. Despite trailing Princeton by one point after Friday’s events, the men’s team secured 1,189.5 points and a first-place win for the Nittany Lions. The women’s swim team proved strong through the weekend’s events and totaled 1,094 points, enough for first place.

Penn State men’s basketball opened its regular season with a 62-50 victory over Virginia Military Institute in the BJC on Saturday. Josh Reaves made his much-anticipated debut and started the season off with a steal and breakaway dunk. Though VMI provided the Nittany Lions with a challenge, it was nothing they couldn’t handle.

Top-seeded Penn State women’s volleyball suffered a heartbreaking loss to No. 4 Minnesota in Minneapolis on Saturday. The errors made in the 0-3 defeat are hopefully lessons learned before the Nittany Lions return home for the first time in weeks to take on Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Men’s hockey recorded a record-breaking 8-2 victory versus Sacred Heart on Friday night. Led by a big night from David Goodwin, the team tied its record with eight goals in a game, broke a record with 67 shots in a game, and goalie Eamon McAdam set a record with 22 saves in a period. The team finished off the sweep with a 3-2 victory on Saturday. Despite fairing even with a 2-2 draw at Robert Morris on Friday night, women’s ice hockey proved dominant on Saturday with a 5-1 win against the Colonials.

At the end of the weekend, the Nittany Lions managed a sweet 12-1-1 record. Stay tuned as we continue to follow our teams into the winter season.