UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State is headed to the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament for the 45th-consecutive season after receiving an at-large bid by the committee on Sunday. The Nittany Lions are the only program in the nation to compete in the event all 45 years since the inaugural tournament in 1981.
The full bracket was announced live on ESPN during the NCAA Selection Show. Penn State was slotted in as an eight seed in its region and will take on South Florida in Austin, Texas on Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET. The winner will play the winner between Texas, the top seed and host of the region, and Florida A&M in the second round on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Both rounds will be played at Gregory Gymnasium.
Penn State has played USF three times in program history, sweeping the Bulls in 1986, 1988, and 2015. All three of those matches were played at USF’s home gym in Tampa. Friday marks the first match between the teams in the NCAA Tournament.
The Nittany Lions are 116-35 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches after going 6-0 and winning the program’s eighth national title last season. They are a perfect 26-0 in the Round of 64, which has been the size of the field since 1998. In those 26 wins, the Nittany Lions are 78-3 in sets played, dropping a set each to Howard in 2017, Towson in 2021, and Yale in 2023.
Penn State is playing the Round of 64 away from Rec Hall for just the third time in 26 years. The last time it happened, the Nittany Lions defeated Yale and then won a road match against Kansas in five sets to advance to the NCAA Regional.
As for the potential second round opponent, Penn State has never played Florida A&M but has a long history against Texas. The Nittany Lions are 11-9 all-time against the Longhorns in a series dating back to 1982. The teams have met three times in the NCAA Tournament, including the most famous match of the Penn State-Texas series when the Nittany Lions reverse swept the Longhorns to secure their third-straight national title in 2009. Current Penn State assistant coach Megan Hodge Easy had 21 kills, 13 digs, and five blocks in the match, which was played in Tampa, Florida
The 2025 Penn State women’s volleyball season is presented by Musselman’s.
