No. 4 women’s volleyball hosts Michigan State-Penn State on Sunday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – No. 4 Penn State Women’s Volleyball hosts Michigan State in a Big Ten game Sunday at 2 p.m. The Nittany Lions are 11-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference after a 3-0 win over No. 10 Purdue, while the Spartans are 7-5 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten after Friday was defeated by Michigan.

PROMOS/TOPIC
•$5 soccer ticket for Saturday night’s game
• Alzheimer’s awareness

HOW TO FOLLOW
Sunday, September 29th – 2pm ET
Michigan State (7-5, 0-1 B1G) at No. 4 Penn State (11-1, 1-0 B1G) | Live Stats | B1G+

OPENING NOTES
• No. 4 Penn State will look to build on a clean sweep when it resumes Big Ten play with a home game against Michigan State on Sunday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions opened conference play on Wednesday with a 3-0 win at No. 10 Purdue.
• The Nittany Lions are on two winning streaks in their game against the Spartans. They have won 10 straight games at Rec Hall since last season and seven straight Big Ten regular season games since last season.

HISTORY OF THE SERIES
• Penn State is 54-8 in its all-time series with Michigan State. The teams first played in 1985.
• The Nittany Lions have won 17 of the last 18 games in the series, with their only loss during that span coming last season in East Lansing.
• The Nittany Lions are 28-3 against the Spartans at Rec Hall. This includes eight home wins in a row, the last defeat coming in 2013.

EXPLORING MICHIGAN STATE
• Michigan State is 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten following a 3-0 loss to Michigan in its B1G opener.
• The Spartans’ biggest non-conference win came on the road against Colorado State.
• The Spartans were ranked 12th in the Big Ten preseason poll.

STREAKS TO WATCH
Gillian Grimes
· 3 games in a row with at least one ace
Camryn Hannah
· 4 games in a row with double digit kills
Jess Mruzik
· 3 matches in a row with double digit kills
Izzy Starck
· 2 games in a row with double-doubles
team
· 10 straight wins at Rec Hall
· 7 straight Big Ten regular season wins

MILESTONES
• Jess Mruzik recorded her 1,000th career kill in the first set of a 3-0 home win over Colgate on September 2, 2023. She enters the game with 1,609 career kills and 952 digs.
• Camryn Hannah recorded her 1,000th career kill in the first set of a 3-0 home win over UMBC on September 15, 2023. She enters the game with 1,426 career kills.
• Taylor Trammell enters the game with 489 career blocks and only needs 11 to reach 500.

REC HALL SUCCESSFUL
• Penn State is 715-55 (.929) all-time at Rec Hall.
• The Lions are 333-37 (.900) against Big Ten opponents in Rec Hall and 382-18 (.955) against non-conference opponents.

KEEP THEM UNDER .200
• Penn State has held nine of its 12 opponents hitting under .200 this season. This includes all four wins against opponents at national level.
• The Nittany Lions’ four wins over nationally ranked opponents – No. 4 Louisville, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 10 Purdue – The teams combined for a .161 average.

NEXT
• No. 4 Penn State hosts two Big Ten opponents for B1G Network games next week. The Nittany Lions host Maryland on Thursday at 6 p.m. and then host No. 11 Oregon
• The Terrapins are 9-3 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten after losing 3-2 to Northwestern in their last game.
• The Ducks are 9-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten after eight straight wins over Long Beach State, Colorado State, Grand Canyon, Central Arkansas, No. 17 BYU, San Diego, Portland State, Oregon State and Illinois.