Category: Women’s Volleyball

Penn State athletics director search underway following Sandy Barbour’s retirement announcement

Penn State is now officially searching for a new athletics director following Sandy Barbour’s big announcement.

The search for a brand new athletics director is officially underway for Penn State. It was announced on Wednesday that Sandy Barbour will retire from her position as athletics director this summer, leaving Penn State with a high-profile AD vacancy to fill moving forward.

Barbour’s retirement announcement comes months after Penn State locked in head football coach James Franklin to a 10-year contract and a year after making her last head coaching hire in men’s basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry. Penn State also navigated its way out of the impact of the NCAA sanctions related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal and a global pandemic that left Beaver Stadium empty for an entire college football season all during Barbour’s tenure in Happy Valley.

“These last eight years have been the most incredible and satisfying of my career,” Barbour said in a released statement. “The passion, the commitment and the purpose with which the Penn State community pursues excellence is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and I am honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to serve Penn State students, coaches, faculty, staff and our incredible community.”

Penn State said in a statement the school will conduct a national search to find its next athletics director, although no timeline for when a final decision will be made has been shared by the university. More details on this search will be shared at a later point in time, but prepare for the obligatory search firm hire to assist Penn State in the process of narrowing in on a new athletics director.

Some big challenges will be inherited for the next athletics director, including the ongoing task of renovating the athletics facilities, including Beaver Stadium. Fortunately, no coach on the Penn State payroll appears to be in any real jeopardy of quickly losing their job under a new AD. Athletic directors do like to hire their coaches of choice, but no situation appears to be in place for any such drastic changes under a new AD.

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A B1G welcome to Cornhuskers Wire and Hawkeyes Wire!

Welcome to Cornhuskers Wire and HAwkeyes Wire, your new home for coverage of Nebraska and Iowa sports on the USA TODAY SMG College Wires network!

The topic of expansion is always a fun discussion point in the world of college football, whether we are referring to conference expansion or College Football Playoff expansion. But today we are extending a warm welcome to two brand new members of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s college wires network. Allow us to introduce you to Cornhuskers Wire and Hawkeyes Wire, your new go-to resources for all things related to Nebraska and Iowa, respectively.

Cornhuskers Wire is led by editor Evan Bredeson and will deliver some of the best commentary you will find on the Huskers. Like Penn State, Nebraska coverage will largely be focused on the football program, and Nebraska is entering yet another potentially pivotal season under head coach Scott Frost. A late surge on the recruiting trail and some key additions in the transfer portal are shaping up for a pretty interesting spring in Lincoln as Nebraska looks to return to bowl contention, if not Big Ten West Division contention.

Hawkeyes Wire has gotten off to a busy start as it arrives on the scene just as Iowa is making a deep run in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament. And given the passion for Iowa football, we can all expect some terrific content to come with the site’s ongoing coverage of the Hawkeyes football program as well.

Penn State has some history with both Nebraska and Iowa, of course. Penn State and Nebraska played some classic games in decades past, but it is the game they didn’t get to play in the 1994 season that leads to one of the best “what if” debates among Penn State and Nebraska fans. The Penn State-Iowa series has gone on a bit of a seesaw battle of winning streaks being exchanged. Iowa currently owns a two-game winning streak on the football field against Penn State, and Nebraska won the most recent meeting with the Nittany Lions as well.

The college wires network continues to expand its coverage of the entire Big Ten, and now we have a grand total of eight Big Ten programs covered. Here is the updated list of Big Ten schools we have covered;

Our growth beyond the Big Ten also continues with new sites continuing to be added, with the recent additions of Clemson Wire, Tar Heels Wire, and Aggies Wire, so stay tuned for future updates! Here are the other schools we currently have covered across the network;

Nittany Lions Wire turns one year old, officially, this week as well. I’d personally like to extend my thanks to all of you who have checked out our growing site over the past year and for lending your support and feedback our way. I am excited about continuing into our second year and look forward to continuing to improve our site and be a part of this growing network of college sites.

But if you were curious how Penn State has performed all-time against the schools currently represented on the network, or any other FBS program for that matter, check out this listicle below.

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Penn State unveils updated parking information for non-football events

Penn State fans making the trip to Happy Valley to support their favorite sports teams should be aware of updated parking information.

Everyone is excited to be back inside of Beaver Stadium, the Bryce Jordan Center, and Pegula Ice Arena for the upcoming sports seasons after not being in the stadiums during the 2020 season due to COVID19. And since it’s been a while since Penn State fans got a chance to attend games in person, it may be a good idea to check out the latest parking information provided by Penn State.

On Monday, Penn State announced parking information for all non-football events, which will require a valid permit or payment of the applicable parking fee for campus lots beginning Monday, Aug. 23.

In Summary:

Baseball, Basketball, Field Hockey, Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Track & Field, BJC Wrestling matches

  • General Parking locations: Jordan East, Stadium West, Porter North
  • Prepaid ParkMobile Parking Rate: $5.50 per vehicle
    • Season parking packages available for most sports
  • Day-of-Event Parking Rate: $10 per vehicle
    • Cash only for men’s basketball, women’s basketball and men’s hockey, and for all other athletics events in this area when they coincide with Bryce Jordan Center and Pegula Ice Arena events
    • Higher rates may apply when athletics events coincide with non-athletics Bryce Jordan Center and Pegula Ice Arena events. Rates will vary and will be announced prior to each event
  • $1 per hour parking also available at the East Deck for most events

Gymnastics, Volleyball, Wrestling

  • General Parking Locations: Nittany Deck, West Deck
  • Prepaid ParkMobile Parking Rate: $5.50 per vehicle
    • Season parking packages available for most sports
  • Day-of-Event Parking Rate: $10 per vehicle (ParkMobile or pay station)
  • $1 per hour parking also available at the East Deck for most events

Cross Country: $1 per hour parking at the West Deck

Fencing: $1 per hour parking at the HUB Deck

Swimming & Diving, Tennis: $1 per hour at the East Deck

These changes will have no impact on parking for the upcoming football season.

So before you make the trip to Happy Valley to support your favorite Penn State sports team, make sure you are aware of the parking details.

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Olympics: Penn State volleyballers make Olympic gold medal history for USA

Penn State’s Haleigh Washington was instrumental in the first gold medal victory for the United States in women’s volleyball

It’s been a long time coming, but the United States women’s volleyball team finally got to celebrate winning a gold medal at the Olympics. As the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo were winding down, the United States won their first gold medal in Olympic history with a victory over Brazil. A pair of former Penn State volleyball stars were a part of the historic run to the gold.

Micha Hancock and Haleigh Washington were a part of the roster for the United States women’s volleyball team. Washington was one of the starters for the team.

“The hard work that we put in, the sweat, the tears, the blood, it’s been worth it,” Washington said in a postgame interview. “I am so proud to have done it with this group of women.”

Washington let the emotions flow in a post-match interview with NBC to reflect on being a part of making US volleyball history.

The United States has won three silver medals in women’s volleyball and two bronze medals. This is the first gold medal at the Olympics, although the team does have a collection of international tournament gold medals in events like the Pan American Games and FIVB World Grand Prix. But the ultimate goal, an Olympic gold, has eluded them until now.

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Every Penn State Olympian athlete taking part in the Tokyo Olympics

Current or former Penn State athletes will represent three countries in nine events at the Tokyo Olympics.

Penn State will be represented well at the Tokyo Olympics, which of course have been delayed a year due to the pandemic. From track and field events to the volleyball court and the wrestling mats, Nittany Lions and former Nittany Lions will be competing on the ultimate international level this summer in Tokyo.

This is an attempt to make sure we have listed every single Olympic athlete competing with some form of tie to Penn State. As it stands, Nittany Lions will be representing three different countries in a total of nine individual or team events.

If you want to see the entire roster of Olympians representing the United States, check out this collection from USA TODAY Sports.

Here’s a look at this year’s Olympic athletes who are or once were a Penn State athlete.

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After Pennsylvania legalizes NIL benefits, NCAA finally caves on decades-long policy

Shortly after PA legalizes NIL benefits, the NCAA changes its decades-long stance on the issue.

The cracks were shaking the foundation of the NCAA’s moral compass, and now the NCAA has finally attempted to get with the times.

A day before NIL laws in half of the country are set to go into effect, the NCAA has broken down on one of their foundational cores prohibiting student-athletes from benefitting from the use of their name, image, or likeness.

Starting tomorrow, July 1, every student-athlete in all 50 states will be eligible to capitalize on the use of their name, image, or likeness regardless of whether or not their state has passed NIL legislation. No punishments will be enforced for benefitting from a player’s likeness, a position the NCAA held on to so strongly since its inception.

The NCAA will utilize an interim NIL policy, allowing the NCAA to work on some of the finer details that may or not be known just yet.

The NIL changes have been a long time coming, and it is good to see the NCAA finally amend its stance on the subject. Of course, the NCAA has basically been backed into a corner with this new viewpoint as more and more states were challenging the root principle of the NCAA by signing into law various NIL legislation and challenging the NCAA in courts over the issues. And the NCAA has made this policy change on the eve of the new academic year, which is when many of the state laws that have been passed, including Pennsylvania’s, are set to go into effect.

Whatever the case may be and however we reached this turning point in time, it is good to see the NCAA finally come to grips with reality and update its policy for today’s world.

It’s been a long time coming.

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Penn State women’s volleyball reaches NCAA Tournament for 40th consecutive season

Penn State women’s volleyball is looking for its first national championship since 2014.

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The Penn State women’s volleyball is heading back to the NCAA Tournament for a 40th consecutive season.

On Sunday, the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee unveiled the 48 teams that will play in the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament. Penn State is heading into the tournament with a No. 13 seed.

Penn State will play the winner of Rice vs North Carolina A&T in the second round. Put on some coffee. The match isn’t scheduled until 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

The Bracket

 

Every game of the tournament will be in Omaha, Nebraska from April 14-24 at the CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena. The national semifinal and championship matches will be on ESPN2.

Penn State got an at-large bid to take part in the NCAA Tournament while having a 9-5 season, all of which was in Big Ten-only play.

The Penn State women’s volleyball team is looking to win its first national championship since 2014. The program has won a total of seven national championships since 1999. The team has reached at least the regional semifinal from 2015 through 2018 under head coach Russ Rose.

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