Wisconsin and Penn State back at home this weekend

The two winningest programs in the Big Ten women’s volleyball conference, Wisconsin and Penn State will both have their home openers this weekend, playing in front of their fans for the first time in the season.

Penn State will host Western Kentucky on Friday, August 1, at 19:00 local time (23:00 UTC), at University Park, while Wisconsin will meet Tennessee on Sunday, August 3, at 13:00 local time (18:00 UTC), in Madison. Both matches will be streamed live on VBTV for subscribers around the world.

• Watch the Big Ten Volleyball matches live on VBTV.

Defending Big Ten champions Wisconsin will meet their fans for the first time since winning their fourth straight and ninth overall conference title last season. Their victory will be celebrated at the UW Field House with a banner drop in pre-match ceremonies.

The duel against Tennessee will mark the fifth match played by the Badgers in the season – the defending Big Ten champions, who are ranked No. 1 nationally, have defeated Baylor and Texas Christian during the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge and Arkansas ahead of Sunday’s match.

“We will have the home opener against a really physical Tennessee team that should definitely be ranked by the time they get to us,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I’m sure the Badger fans will be revved up and ready to go in the Field House.”

Senior opposite Devyn Robinson has been Wisconsin's leading scorer so far in the season with 51 points, but transfers Carter Booth (sophomore middle) and Temi Thomas-Ailara (graduate outside hitter) are also having good production with 30 and 23 points registered respectively.

Penn State, on the other hand, will be looking to get their first victory of the season. The Nittany Lions, who have a record 17 Big Ten titles, dropped their first two matches of the year, falling to Florida and Georgia Tech last weekend during the Road 2 Tampa Bay Invitational.

Despite the two losses, senior middle blocker Taylor Trammell had excellent performances in Tampa, registering 14 kills and 12 blocks in two matches and being named to the All-Tournament Team.

New faces to the team in 2023, Mac Podraza and Jess Mruzik also had strong displays in Florida. The graduate setter, who transferred from Ohio State, tallied 76 assists and ten digs, while the senior outside hitter, who came from Michigan, produced 31 kills and 19 digs.

The match against Western Kentucky will be one of three played by the Nittany Lions this week as part of the Penn State Invitational. The team will also face Colgate on Saturday and James Madison on Sunday.

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