Penn State women’s volleyball (2-0) rose to No. 8 in this week’s AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, which was released Monday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions moved up one spot from their previous ranking, No. 9, which they’d held since the first week of the season.

Penn State joins a number of Big Ten foes in this week’s poll, including Wisconsin (No. 1), Nebraska (No. 4), and Minnesota (No. 5). Purdue and Michigan are also ranked at No. 11 and No. 24, respectively.

The short-handed team began its season by defeating Illinois 3-1 last Friday and battling back to topple the Illini 3-2 Saturday night to complete the series sweep. Freshman outside hitter Annie Cate Fitzpatrick, who started her first two matches for Penn State this weekend, led the team with 30 kills in the series.

Five Nittany Lions, including setter Gabby Blossom and defensive specialist Jenna Hampton, didn’t dress for the series. In their absence, newer faces like Emily Oerther and Maddy Bilinovic got a chance to shine. The two totaled 82 assists and 32 digs, respectively.

Penn State will return to action on Saturday, February 13, with a road match against No. 5 Minnesota. First serve for the two-match series is set for 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.