Penn State women’s volleyball suffered a five-set defeat to Pitt in its spring match at Rec Hall on Wednesday night.

Playing in their first match since winning the national championship over Louisville last season, the Nittany Lions got off to a fast start by winning the first set in a commanding fashion. However, the Panthers responded by winning the second set and third set which forced the Nittany Lions to dig deep. Penn State refused to go away and showed its resilience once again by winning the fourth set but failed to capitalize on a 9-3 lead in the final set which led to its defeat.

How It Happened

The new-look Nittany Lions featured a starting lineup of Ava Falduto, Jordan Hopp, Emmi Sellman, Caroline Jurevicius, Izzy Starck, and libero Gillian Grimes. Falduto committed a service error to get the first set underway before a kill by Hopp on the next point got Penn State on the board.

Both teams traded blows for the next six points before a service ace by Grimes and a block assist by Starck and Hopp gave the Nittany Lions an early 6-4 lead. After Sophia Gregoire recorded a kill for Pitt on the next point, Penn State put its foot on the gas and went on a 3-0 run to extend its lead to four. This forced the Panthers to take their first timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions extended their run to five before a kill by Gregoire ended the run. Both teams exchanged points before Penn State won back-to-back points to increase its lead to seven. However, the Panthers refused to go away and went on a 5-0 run to get within two of Penn State’s lead. Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley used her first timeout.

Jurevicius recorded a kill after the timeout to end Pitt’s run. This kill gave the Nittany Lions a lot of momentum as they went on to win three of the next four points to extend their lead to five and force the Panthers to take another timeout.

Ace from Sellman #WEARE pic.twitter.com/ikL3VBswbz

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) April 9, 2025

After the timeout, both teams exchanged kills before Penn State went on a 4-0 run to get within two points of winning the first set. On the next point, Gregoire recorded a kill to end the run before an attack error by Bre Kelly gave the Nittany Lions set point. They capitalized on this opportunity as Gregoire’s attack error gave Penn State a 25-15 set win.

Pitt won the first point of the second set, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run to take an early lead. After the Panthers took advantage of consecutive errors by the Nittany Lions to tie the set at three, both teams traded points before a kill by Maggie Mendelson gave them the lead.

However, this lead was short-lived as the Panthers responded with a 6-0 run take a 10-5 lead and forced Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout. Both teams went back and forth for six points after the timeout before an attack error by Karis Willow increased the lead for Pitt to six. The Nittany Lions refused to go away and went on a 3-0 run to trim their deficit to three. This led to a timeout by the Panthers.

Out of the timeout, Penn State recorded back-to-back kills to decrease their deficit to one. However, the Panthers refused to relinquish their lead and won three consecutive points to give themselves a 17-13 lead. The Nittany Lions showed their resilience and went on a 4-0 run to tie the set at 17.

Both teams traded blows for the next six points as the deadlock stayed intact. The Panthers won consecutive points to take a 22-20 lead which forced the Nittany Lions to take a timeout. After the timeout, Pitt won three consecutive points to win the second set 25-20.

Pitt got off to a fast start in the third set as it won the first four points before an attack error ended Pitt’s run of winning nine consecutive points dating back to the second set. However, the Panthers continued to seize their momentum as they went on a 3-0 run to force the Nittany Lions a much-needed timeout.

After the timeout, both teams went back and forth for the next 10 points as Pitt’s six-point lead stayed intact. After Olivia Babcock’s kill extended the Panthers’ lead to seven, Penn State started to show signs of life as it won six of the next eight points to trim its deficit to three which forced Pitt to take a timeout.

The Nittany Lions recorded back-to-back kills out of the timeout to get within one. Both teams exchanged the next four points before a block assist by Gabrielle Nichols and Willow tied the set at 17. However, the Panthers won four of the next five points to take a 21-18 lead.

Both teams traded blows for four points before an attack error by Hopp gave the Panthers set point. Pitt capitalized on this opportunity as Penn State recorded another attack error to give the Panthers a 25-20 set victory.

Penn State got off to a fast start in the fourth set as it won five of the first six points to take an early lead. This forced the Panthers to take an early timeout. The Nittany Lions continued to seize their momentum as they won three of the next four points after the timeout to extend their lead to six.

Both teams went back and forth for the next six points before consecutive points by Penn State gave it an eight-point lead. However, Pitt refused to go away and responded with a 4-0 run to decrease its deficit to four. This forced Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout.

After the timeout, both teams exchanged the next eight points as Penn State’s lead stayed intact. The Panthers continued to dig deep and won three consecutive points to get within one of Penn State’s lead. This forced the Nittany Lions to take another timeout.

This timeout paid dividends for the Nittany Lions as they won back-to-back points to give themselves some breathing room. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before Pitt won consecutive points to trim its deficit to one. Penn State refused to give up its lead and responded with a kill by Hopp and an ace by Falduto to give it a 22-19 lead. This led to a timeout by Pitt.

Out of the timeout, the Panthers won three of the next four points before a kill by Mendelson gave the Nittany Lions set point. They couldn’t convert on their first chance, but on the next opportunity, Babcock recorded an attack error that allowed Penn State to win the fourth set 25-23 and send this match into a fifth set.

We're headed to a fifth set at Rec Hall!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/qtuK46IYzj

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) April 10, 2025

After the Panthers won the first point of the fifth set, the Nittany Lions seized their momentum from the previous set and won five of the next six points to take an early 5-2 lead. Pitt recorded a block assist on the next point, but Penn State continued to show its resilience by going on a 4-0 run to extend its lead to six. This run was highlighted with a kill and ace by Sellman.

However, the Panthers showed their resilience and went on to win four of the next five points. This allowed them to reduce their deficit to three and forced Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout in hopes of her team regaining its footing.

The Panthers continued to claw back after the timeout as they won three consecutive points to tie the set at 10. Both teams exchanged points before a service ace by Pitt gave it the lead. This led to another timeout by Penn State as the set started to slip away.

Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions won two of the next three points before a block assist gave the Panthers a match point. On its first opportunity, Pitt closed off the match with a solo block by Haiti Tautua’a to win the final set 15-13.

Takeaways

• Despite losing three starters from last year’s team, Penn State showed today why it’s still a huge contender to repeat as national champs. It got huge contributions from new starters Sellman and Willow, who combined for 26 of the team’s 50 kills.
• Once again, Penn State demonstrated that its resilience from last season that led it to a national championship still hasn’t gone away. After facing a 2-1 set deficit, it responded by winning the fourth set. However, it let a 9-3 lead in the fifth set to evaporate which ended with it losing the match.
• It was evident that both teams were very rusty as both struggled to crack a hitting percentage of .100 and combined for a total of 80 errors. Expect both teams to play much better when they face each other in the regular season.

What’s Next?

Penn State will open its season in the AVCA First Serve event on Friday, August 22, where it will take on Creighton in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Regional final.