The 2025 Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2025 NCAA Division I women's volleyball season. The Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball team were led by 4th-year head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. The 2025 Penn State was the defending NCAA champions, having won the program's 8th national title in 2024.

They are members of the Big Ten Conference and play their home games at Rec Hall.

Season recap The 2025 Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball team entered the season as the defending NCAA Division I champions, following their 2024 title run. Expectations were high as the team was ranked the #2 in the country to start the season. The team encountered challenges throughout the season, including the early season departure of standout setter Izzy Starck, who stepped away from the team and later entered the transfer portal.

Penn State experienced an inconsistent regular season marked by several losses to ranked opponents. They finished the regular season with an 18–12 record and 12–8 Big Ten conference record, finishing sixth in the conference. Their highest ranked win of the season was an upset of then-#7 Wisconsin on October 10, 2025.

The Nittany Lions received an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament, continuing the program's streak of being the only Division I school to earn an appearance in all 45 NCAA tournaments. They defeated South Florida in the first round, before losing to top seeded Texas in the second round.

Offseason Outgoing departures Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure Taylor Trammell 1 MB 6'2" Graduate Lexington, KY Graduated Camryn Hannah 8 OH 6'2" Graduate Lansing, IL Graduated Jess Mruzik 9 OH 6'1" Graduate Livonia, MI Graduated Anjelina Starck 10 OH 6'2" Senior Colorado Springs, CO Graduated Quinn Menger 24 DS/S 5'9" Senior Powhatan, VA Graduated

Outgoing transfers

Name Pos. Height Year Hometown New Team Source Alexa Markley OPP 6'2” Junior Peachtree City, GA Washington

Incoming transfers Name Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous team Source Addie Lyon S 5'9” RS Senior O'Fallon, MO Saint Louis Kennedy Martin OPP 6'6” Junior Fort Mill, SC Florida Emmi Sellman OH 6'4” Sophomore Burtonsville, MD Ohio State

Incoming recruits 2025 Penn State RecruitsName Pos. Height Hometown High School Marin Collins OH 6'3" Lake View, NY Frontier Central Alexis Ewing OH 6'4" Bethesda, MD Bullis School Lexi Gin DS 5'6" Indianapolis, IN Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School Ava Jurevicius DS 5'9" Lincoln, NE Lincoln Lutheran Gabrielle Nichols MB 6'2" Winston-Salem, NC Reagan

Roster  Libero/Defensive Specialists 2 Ava Falduto – Sophomore 3 Gillian Grimes – Senior 6 Kate Lally – Junior 9 Lexi Gin – Freshman 10 Ava Jurevicius – Freshman 11 Jocelyn Nathan – Junior

Setters 7 Addie Lyon – Redshirt Senior 21 Izzy Starck – Sophomore Middle Blockers 5 Jordan Hopp – Senior 8 Gabrielle Nichols – Freshman 23 Catherine Burke – Junior 44 Maggie Mendelson – Senior Outside Hitters 4 Karis Willow – Junior 13 Emmi Sellman – Sophomore 15 Marin Collins – Freshman 27 Alexis Ewing – Freshman

Opposite Hitters 8 Caroline Jurevicius – Redshirt Sophomore 18 Kennedy Martin – Junior

Coaches

Katie Schumacher-Cawley – head coach – 4th year Brian Toron – assistant coach – 4th year Megan Hodge Easy – assistant coach – 3rd year Michael Henchy – assistant coach – 2nd year

Support staff

Sarah Tischler – director of operations Sydnie Mabry – performance analyst Scott Campbell – athletic trainer Matt Dorn – athletic performance coach

Schedule

DateTime (ET)OpponentRankArenaCity(Tournament)TelevisionScoreAttendanceRecord(Big Ten Record) Regular Season August 232:00 PM vs. #12 Creighton #2 Pinnacle Bank Arena(AVCA First Serve)Lincoln, NE Fox Sports 1 W 3–0(25–18, 25–22, 26–24) 1–0 August 256:30 PM vs. #14 Kansas #2 Sanford Pentagon (AVCA First Serve)Sioux Falls, SD Big Ten Network W 3–2(25–22, 24–26, 16–25, 30–28, 15–12) 3,397 2–0 August 315:00 PM vs. #13 Arizona State #2 PPG Paints Arena(State Farm College Volleyball Showcase)Pittsburgh, PA Fox L 1–3(25–21, 23–25, 20–25, 29–31) 7,723 2–1 September 15:00 PM vs. #24 TCU #5 PPG Paints Arena(State Farm College Volleyball Showcase)Pittsburgh, PA Fox L 2–3(19–25, 15–25, 25–20, 25–19, 12–15) 2–2 September 5TBA vs. #4 Kentucky #5 Rec Hall (Penn State Invitational)University Park, PA Fox L 0–3(21–25, 16–25, 23–25) 6,031 2–3 September 7TBA vs. New Hampshire #5 Rec Hall(Penn State Invitational)University Park, PA BIG+ W 3–0(25–11, 25–15, 25–20) 3,737 3–3 September 9TBA vs. Bucknell #12 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA BIG+ W 3–0(25–19, 25–10, 25–20) 3,191 4–3 September 17TBA vs. #5 Pittsburgh #13 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA Big Ten NetworkL 1–3(23–25, 17–25, 25–23, 17–25) 5,211 4–4 September 19TBA vs. Princeton #13 Rec Hall(Penn State Classic)University Park, PA BIG+ W 3–2(25–15, 20–25, 22–25, 25–16, 15–8) 3,335 5–4 September 21TBA vs. Central Michigan #13 Rec Hall(Penn State Classic)University Park, PA BIG+W 3–0(25–21, 25–20, 25–22) 3,313 6–4 September 26TBA vs #17 Southern California* #15 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA Big Ten Network W 3–2(25–13, 25–22, 19–25, 19–25, 15–13)4,318 7–4(1–0) September 28TBA vs. UCLA* #15 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA Big Ten Network L 1–3(25–22, 19–25, 23–25, 23–25) 3,964 7–5(1–1) October 3TBA vs. #1 Nebraska* #16 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA Fox L 0–3(6–25, 15–25, 13–25) 6,257 7–6(1–2) October 5TBA at Maryland* #16 Xfinity CenterCollege Park, MD Big Ten Network W 3–2(25–16, 25–20, 19–25, 23–25, 15–5)5,093 8–6(2–2) October 10TBA vs. #7 Wisconsin* #19 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA Big Ten Network W 3–0(25–20, 25–21, 25–16) 5,311 9–6(3–2) October 11TBA vs. Northwestern* #19 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA BIG+ W 3–1(25–18, 25–20, 20–25, 25–16) 3,643 10–6(4–2) October 1710:00 PM at Washington* #17 Alaska Airlines ArenaSeattle, WA Big Ten Network L 2–3(11–25, 17–25, 25–23, 25–20, 13–15) 4,43110–7(4–3) October 1810:30 PM at Oregon* #17Matthew Knight ArenaEugene, OR Big Ten Network W 3–1(25–22, 23–25, 25–23, 27–25) 3,235 11–7(5–3) October 247:00 PM vs. Rutgers* #18 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA BIG+ W 3–0(25–23, 25–19, 25–13) 3,647 12–7(6–3) October 2612:00 PM at Ohio State* #18 Covelli CenterColumbus, OH BIG+ W 3–1(22–25, 25–23, 25–17, 25–18) 3,476 13–7(7–3) October 316:30 PM at Michigan* #19 Cliff Keen ArenaAnn Arbor, MIBig Ten Network L 2–3(25–21, 21–25, 28–26, 22–25, 12–15) 1,764 13–8(7–4) November 24:00 PM vs. #24 Indiana* #19 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA Big Ten Network L 0–3(22–25, 15–25, 23–25) 3,651 13–9(7–5) November 77:00 PM at #9 Purdue* #25 Holloway Gymnasium West Lafayette, IN L 0–3(20–25, 21–25, 22–25) 2,415 13–10(7–6) November 94:30 PM at Illinois* #25 Huff Hall Champaign, IL Big Ten Network W 3–1(25–23, 25–27, 25–23, 25–22) 3,753 14–10(8–6) November 147:00 PM at #20 Minnesota* #24 Maturi Pavilion Minneapolis, MN Big Ten Network L 0–3(23–25, 23–25, 22–25) 4,486 14–11(8–7) November 162:00 PM vs. Ohio State* #24 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA W 3–2(25–22, 15–25, 29–31, 25–14, 15–12)4,022 15–11(9–7) November 217:00 PM vs. Michigan State* #24 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA W 3–0(25–15, 25–19, 25–23)3,679 16–11(10–7) November 232:00 PM vs. Maryland* #24 Rec HallUniversity Park, PA W 3–0(25–19, 25–15, 25–14)3,237 17–11(11–7) November 286:30 PM at #1 Nebraska* #25 Bob Devaney Sports CenterLincoln, NE Big Ten Network L 0–3(14–25, 11–25, 14–25) 8,537 17–12(11–8) November 297:00 PM at Iowa* #25 Xtream ArenaCoralville, IA Big Ten Network W 3–1(25–22, 25–21, 22–25, 25–20) 723 18–12(12–8) December 65:30 p.m. vs. South Florida #25 Gregory GymnasiumAustin, TX(NCAA First Round) ESPN+ W 3–1(25–23, 12–25, 25–21, 25–19) 1,200 19–12 December 77:30 p.m. vs. #3 Texas #25 Gregory GymnasiumAustin, TX(NCAA Second Round) ESPN+ L 0–3(16–25, 9–25, 19–25) 3,918 19–13 * Indicates Conference Opponent, Times listed are Eastern Time Zone, Source*Total 2025 Attendance: 120,698

Awards and honors

National Honors National Awards & Honors Player Position Class Award Ref. Kennedy Martin OPP Junior 1st Team All-American Gilliam Grimes L Senior Honorable-Mention All-American Kennedy Martin OPP Junior 1st Team All-East Region Gillian Grimes L Senior Maggie Mendelson MB Senior

Conference honors Conference Awards Player Position Class Team/Award Ref. Gillian Grimes L Senior Libero of the Year Kennedy Martin* OPP Junior 1st Gillian Grimes L Senior Maggie Mendelson MB Senior 2nd Addie Lyon S Senior Sportsmanship Honoree *Indicates Unanimous Selection

Notes

References