UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball travels to Pittsburgh for a matchup of the top three teams in the country against the top-ranked Panthers on Wednesday at the Petersen Events Center. The game will be broadcast live on the ACC Network.

This is the first time in series history that both Penn State and Pitt are ranked in the top five. It is only the sixth time in series history that both teams have been ranked.

Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh will be the fifth time Penn State has been on television in its first nine games. The Nittany Lions played Tennessee on ESPNU, Louisville on the B1G Network, Kentucky on the SEC Network, Duke on FS1 and now the Panthers on the ACC Network.

How to follow
Wednesday, September 18 – 7 p.m.
#3 Penn State (8-0, 0-0 B1G) at #1 Pittsburgh (6-0, 0-0 ACC) | Live Stats | ACC Network

SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State has a 33-19 record in the series against Pittsburgh. The two teams first played each other in 1977.
• The Panthers won the last meeting in 2021, but the Nittany Lions have won 17 of the last 19 meetings since 1987.
• Penn State has a 13-11 record in away games against Pittsburgh.

EXPLORE PITTSBURGH
• Pittsburgh is the top-ranked team in the country after a 6-0 start with wins over then-No. 10 Oregon (3-0), Long Beach State (3-0), Buffalo (3-0), then-No. 23 USC (3-0), Pepperdine (3-0) and UC Santa Barbara (3-0).
• The Panthers are the only team to make it to the last three NCAA semifinals.
• Pittsburgh was picked first in the ACC preseason poll. Veteran setter Rachel Fairbanks, sophomore right wing Olivia Babcock and sophomore Torrey Stafford were named to the preseason All-ACC team.
• Fairbanks, Babcock and Stafford were all All-Americans at the end of last season.

LAST TIME
• The Nittany Lions won the Penn State Invitational with 3-0 victories over Duke, Princeton and St. John’s.
• Jess Mruzik was named MVP of the Invitational after posting a .265 batting average with 3.86 kills, 2.14 digs and 0.57 blocks per set.
• Caroline Jurevicius was named to the All-Invitational Team after posting a .559 batting average with 2.33 kills and 0.67 blocks per set.
• Izzy Starck was named to the All-Invitational Team as Penn State posted a .367 batting average and 10.67 assists/set. She did a little bit of everything, adding 1.33 digs and 1.33 blocks per set.

STRIPS WORTH SEEING
team
• 12 consecutive wins against non-conference opponents (including postseason) since last season

NATIONAL RANKING STRIPS
• Penn State finished third in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll.
• The Nittany Lions have been ranked in 538 consecutive AVCA Coaches Polls, dating back to the last poll of the 1988 season.

AGAINST TEAM #1
• Penn State has an overall record of 7-12 against opponents ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time of the game.
• The Nittany Lions’ last win over a No. 1 team in the nation came in 2017 against Stanford.
• Penn State has three top-10 wins in the last year, beating No. 9 Minnesota and No. 2 Wisconsin last season and No. 4 Louisville this season. The win over the Gophers was on the road, the other two at Rec Hall.

RANKING WIN THIS SEASON
• As of Monday, September 16, Penn State is one of only four teams in the country with at least three wins against top-ranked teams this season. others are Louisville, Nebraska and Stanford

MULTIPLE RANKING WIN
Louisville- #3 Wisconsin, #15 Tennessee, #9 Creighton
Nebraska- #9 Kentucky, #9 Creighton, #14 Arizona State
Penn State – #15 Tennessee, #4 Louisville, #9 Kentucky
Stanford – #18 Minnesota, #3 Wisconsin, #24 Marquette, #6 Texas

KEEP IT UNDER .200
• Penn State has held all but one of its opponents (Ball State) to under .200 hitting this season, including all three nationally ranked opponents.
• The Nittany Lions’ three nationally ranked opponents – No. 4 Louisville, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 15 Tennessee – combined for a batting average of .156.

Next
• Next up for the Nittany Lions is the Penn State Classic, where they play James Madison on Friday and Yale on Sunday.
• James Madison, a participant in last season’s NCAA tournament, is 5-3 after three straight wins over San Diego, High Point and Western Michigan.
• Yale, also a participant in the NCAA tournament last season, is 4-2 with four straight wins against USC Upstate, Villanova, Fairfield and Colgate.