How to Watch Penn State Volleyball's Spring Match Vs. Pitt

The defending national champion will host rival Pitt in spring exhibition at Holuba Hall.

The Penn State women's volleyball team celebrates its 2024 NCAA championship victory over Louisville. | Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Though it won the 2024 NCAA Women's Volleyball championship, Penn State still has a score to settle. The Nittany Lions get a chance at Rec Hall in a unique spring exhibition match.

Penn State will host Pitt on April 9 at Rec Hall for a spring volleyball match between two of the nation's top programs. Fans get free admission to the match against teams that finished last season first and third in the AVCA rankings.

Big Ten Network will carry the Penn State-Pitt match live beginning at 7 p.m. ET from Rec Hall in State College. The match is one of three Big Ten Network is broadcasting in its spring volleyball schedule.

Penn State put together a phenomenal 2024 season, winning its eighth NCAA women's volleyball title with a 3-1 victory over Louisville in the championship match in December. Penn State reached the championship match with a memorable rally from a 2-0 deficit against Nebraska, winning the next three sets to pull off the reverse sweep. That win resonated with the Penn State men's hockey team, which took lessons on its road to the Frozen Four.

Penn State's coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first female coach to lead a Division I national champ and was rewarded with contract extension through the 2030 season. Schumacher-Cawley led Penn State to a 20-0 record at Rec Hall, winning four matches there in the NCAA tournament.

However, Penn State's 35-2 regular season included a 3-0 loss to Pitt, then the nation's top-ranked team, in September. Pitt defeated Penn State 25-15, 25-19, 25-18 before a record crowd of 11,800 at Petersen Events Center. Pitt fell to Louisville 3-1 in the NCAA semifinals. Pitt has played in four consecutive NCAA semifinals but did not reach the championship match in that stretch.

Penn State returns All-America setter Izzy Starck, the AVCA Freshman of the Year, and All-Big Ten players Gillian Grimes and Caroline Jurevicius. Schumacher-Cawley enters her fourth season as Penn State's head coach having taken the team to four consecutive NCAA tournaments.