After 10 games against non-conference opponents to open the season, Penn State women’s volleyball will begin its bid Big Ten title defense campaign on Friday night.

Heading into conference play, the Nittany Lions continue to face adversity, having lost to four consecutive ranked opponents. They continue to make adjustments both on and off the court since the loss of star setter Izzy Starck and have fallen 13 spots in the rankings since starting the season as the No. 2 team in the country.

This non-conference slate was anything but normal for the Nittany Lions. They had to play against six ranked opponents and only beat two of them, in Creighton and Kansas. However, Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said that her team learned a lot during this slate to prepare itself for conference play.

“I think the team learned to be flexible and to be uncomfortable in certain situations, and to really focus on their skills and how they can help the team be better,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “It’s all of them that are going to [have to] contribute to it, whether they play at all or the whole time. We really put a lot of focus on practice.”

Due to their 6-4 start, a lot of people are counting the Nittany Lions out this year. Despite all the challenges, Schumacher-Cawley said that this is giving her remnants of last season when no one counted them in before they went on to win the national championship. For that reason, she echoes the message to her team that despite the struggles in the non-conference slate, the start of Big Ten play is the beginning of a new season.

“There’s preseason, a Big Ten season, and then postseason. Hopefully, we’ve learned a lot from this preseason and things that we need to continue to work on to make sure that we’re competing at a high level for Big Ten play,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “It’s definitely a new season for us, and I’m happy that we get to start it here at home.”

However, due to the slow start, Penn State will have no margin of error, unlike last season. It looks to turn its season around completely. Despite only losing one match in Big Ten play a season ago, the defending champs know that any team in the Big Ten will present a challenge. Ahead of the start of Big Ten play, the conference consists of six ranked teams, including Penn State, according to the latest AVCA poll.

The Nittany Lions will open conference play against No. 17 USC and UCLA. Despite being lower-ranked than the Nittany Lions, the Trojans have a 9-1 record heading into this match, with their loss coming against No. 14 BYU. As for UCLA, while it is not ranked, it has the same record as Penn State at 6-4, and three of its four losses have come against ranked opponents.

For these reasons, Schumacher-Cawley knows that her team needs to capitalize on winning conference matches at Rec Hall, given the competitiveness of the Big Ten. Penn State middle blocker Jordan Hopp, one of the returning championship team players from last season, knows how hard it is to play in the Big Ten.

“Last year, coming in, everyone said, ‘The Big Ten, it’s a grind, it’s really brutal.’ The teams are always going to be hard, and I think it’s because every single team plays at such a high level,” Hopp said. “Playing for Penn State, everyone’s going to give you their best. In the Big Ten, we all have the same goal of winning [it] and going far in the [NCAA] Tournament. That grind every day of knowing that it’s going to be a battle, no matter what team you’re playing, makes it really hard.”

It’ll be a big weekend in State College. Not only will the Nittany Lions play two matches at Rec Hall, but the football White Out will happen on Saturday night as well. With so many people in town, Schumacher-Cawley urged fans to come and support the team while they can.

“We need as many fans as we can. When there is football going on [and] we are home, it’s always nice to see Rec Hall filled,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “With the Sunday match, it’ll be nice for people, looking for something to do before they leave town, to come on over. I just think that [State College] is electric during these weekends of big conference play, and obviously the White Out. It’s really fun when [both teams] are in town.”