UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- #3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball heads to Pittsburgh for an in-state matchup of the top three teams in the country when it takes on the top-ranked Panthers on Wednesday at the Petersen Events Center. The game will be televised live on the ACC Network.

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

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

HOW TO FOLLOW
Wednesday September 18 – 7:00 PM
#3 Penn State (8-0, 0-0 B1G) at #1 Pittsburgh (6-0, 0-0 ACC) | Live Stats | ACC Network

SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State is 33-19 in the all-time series with Pittsburgh. The teams first played in 1977.
• The Panthers won the most recent game in 2021, but the Nittany Lions have won 17 of the last 19 meetings since 1987.
• Penn State is 13-11 away from Pittsburgh.

EXPLORING 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 reach the past three NCAA semifinals.
• Pittsburgh was picked first in the ACC Preseason Poll. Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks, sophomore right side Olivia Babcock and sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
• Fairbanks, Babcock and Stafford were all true 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 rating with 3.86 kills, 2.14 digs and 0.57 blocks per set.
• Caroline Jurevicius was named to the All-Invitational Team after hitting .559 with 2.33 kills and 0.67 blocks per set.
• Izzy Starck made the All-Invitational Team after Penn State hit .367 with her 10.67 assists/set. She did a little bit of everything, with 1.33 digs and 1.33 blocks per set.

AREAS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
Team
• 12 consecutive wins against non-conference opponents (including postseason) since last season

NATIONAL RANKING REGION
• Penn State was ranked No. 3 in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll.
• The Nittany Lions have been ranked 538 consecutive times in the AVCA Coaches Polls, dating back to the last poll of the 1988 season.

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

RANKING VICTORIES THIS SEASON
• As of Monday, September 16, Penn State will be one of four teams in the country with at least three wins over ranked teams this season. The others are Louisville, Nebraska and Stanford

MULTIPLE WINS IN RANKED CLASS
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 THEM UNDER .200
• Penn State has held all but one opponent (Ball State) under .200 this season. That’s true for all three nationally ranked opponents.
• The Nittany Lions’ three nationally ranked opponents — No. 4 Louisville, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 15 Tennessee — combined to hit .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, an NCAA Tournament team last season, is 5-3 after three straight wins over San Diego, High Point and Western Michigan.
• Yale, also an NCAA Tournament team last season, is 4-2 with four straight wins over USC Upstate, Villanova, Fairfield and Colgate.