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Penn State Unveils High-Profile Women's Volleyball Schedule

The Nittany Lions will play at Wrigley Field, AT&T Stadium and the Palestra next season.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley talks to her players during a Big Ten match vs. the UCLA Bruins.
Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley talks to her players during a Big Ten match vs. the UCLA Bruins. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State unveiled a national-brand women's volleyball schedule for 2026 that will take the team to several high-profile events. The Nittany Lions will play matches at two professional stadiums and in Philadelphia's iconic college basketball venue.

Highlighting the schedule is a trip to Arlington, Texas, for the $1 million Spikes Under the Lights exhibition event Aug. 27. Penn State will join Nebraska, Florida and SMU in the first-of-its-kind women's volleyball tournament at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Each team will receive a $200,000 appearance fee, with another $200,00 in prize money on the line.

The one-day tournament represents the future of college sports, in which appearance fees and prize money will draw programs, fans and sponsors to major events outside of football. The Nittany Lions will play in another such event Sept. 6, just 10 days after Spikes Under the Lights.

Penn State will meet Kentucky at Wrigley Field in Chicago as part of the Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge. The new event will bring women's volleyball to the home of the Chicago Cubs for the first time. Nebraska will face Missouri in the other match of the doubleheader showcase. Penn State will follow the Wrigley Field match with a visit to DePaul on Sept. 7.

“Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week culminating at Wrigley Field brings together the highest level of women’s volleyball competition, at one of the most iconic venues in the country,” Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said in a statement. “As women’s volleyball participation, sponsorship, attendance and viewership continue to grow, we look forward to providing this unique opportunity to showcase the exceptional competition.”

With Penn State basketball making annual trips to the Palestra in Philadelphia, the women's volleyball team is headed there next season. The Nittany Lions will face Stanford on Sept. 11 at the Palestra, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026.

The Philadelphia match pairs the nation's top two teams in national championships won. Stanford has won nine NCAA titles, most recently in 2019, and Penn State has won eight, most recently in 2024. The Nittany Lions return to Rec Hall on Sept. 12 to face Ohio.

Penn State's non-conference schedule includes the Penn State Invitational at Rec Hall. The early season tournament features UConn, against which Penn State will open the season, High Point and Hofstra.

The Nittany Lions also will host the Penn State Classic in late September against South Florida and Tennessee. Penn State defeated South Florida in four sets in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.

New to the Big Ten schedule this is the inaugural conference tournament, scheduled for Nov. 20-25 in Fishers, Indiana. Penn State will play every Big Ten team once during the regular season. That includes conference home matches against Nebraska (Oct. 1), Iowa, Washington, Oregon, Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers. The Nittany Lions visit California in October for road matches at USC and UCLA.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley enters her fifth season as Penn State's head coach. She has led the Nittany Lions to four NCAA appearances and one national championship.

Senior Kennedy Martin, a three-time All-American, earned first-team honors last season in her first at Penn State. She set Penn State single-season records for points (728), points per set (6.22), kills (634), and kills per set (5.42) in 2025. Martin previously played at Florida, which Penn State could play at Spikes Under the Lights.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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