Penn State women’s volleyball is officially back, folks.

After postponing the fall season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Nittany Lions will play a 22-match spring season against 11 conference opponents. To presumably make scheduling and travel arrangements easier, Big Ten teams will face the same foe twice in weekly, two-game series.

Penn State will open its season on Friday, January 22 with a two-game series at Michigan. It’ll return to Happy Valley for its home opener against Ohio State on Tuesday, January 26 before heading to Columbus to wrap up the series on Sunday, January 31.

The Nittany Lions will host Illinois for a two-game series at Rec Hall starting on Friday, February 5. The next week, it’ll head to Minnesota for another two-game split before a home series with Indiana starting Friday, February 19, and a road series with Maryland starting Friday, February 26.

Penn State will open play in March with back-to-back home series against Purdue and Rutgers starting on March 5 and 12, respectively. Following a road series against Michigan State, the Nittany Lions will return home for a split against Wisconsin. They’ll wrap up the regular season with an away series at Nebraska starting April 1.

Once Big Ten play wraps up, Penn State will gear up for the NCAA Tournament. After all, it’s tough to imagine the Nittany Lions missing out on the postseason after…well, never missing the tournament!

College volleyball, alongside many other sports, had its NCAA Tournament pushed to the spring back in November. Selections for the 48-team bracket will be announced on April 4.

Although Penn State hasn’t announced concrete plans for matches, it seems unlikely fans will be able to head to Rec Hall this season. Big Ten regulations for football, basketball, and hockey games have prevented any spectators, with the exception of family members.

Penn State should receive its preseason ranking on Tuesday, January 5, when the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll releases its first spring season poll. The Nittany Lions finished the 2019 season ranked No. 7 in the country.

Penn State women’s volleyball wrapped up an impressive 2019 season with a 27-6 overall record, finishing 17-3 in competitive Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions lost to eventual national champion Stanford in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.

Even though we’ve still got a little while until first serve, it’s hard not getting excited. Head coach Russ Rose, who won his 16th Big Ten Coach of the Year award last season, could notch his 1,300th career win with a season-opening victory over Michigan in just a few weeks! We’ll see you then.