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Penn State Sports Roundup: Nittany Lions Play at Defending National Champions

It’s Sweet Sixteen time in volleyball - and Penn State has a tall task ahead of it

NCAA Basketball: Rutgers at Penn State Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State faces a familiar foe tonight in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament Regional Semifinals, traveling to Wisconsin to face the top-seeded Big Ten Champion and defending national champion Badgers.

The match starts at 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPNU.

The No. 11 Nittany Lions lost twice against No. 2 Wisconsin this year, being swept in Madison before losing a thrilling five-setter last month at Rec Hall.

This marks Penn State’s 19th appearance in the last 20 Sweet Sixteen rounds.

The Lions got here with a pair of wins last weekend at Rec Hall against UMBC (3-0) and No. 21 UCF (3-1). Penn State is 26-7 with all seven of those losses coming in the Big Ten. There are currently five Big Ten teams still alive in the tournament.

Home Against the Hoosiers

Penn State’s women’s basketball team will be home tonight against No. 3, and unbeaten, Indiana.

The Nittany Lions are 7-2 on the season, but 0-1 in Big Ten play following a 98-96 double overtime loss at Minnesota.

In that game, Makenna Marisa had a season-high 34 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Meanwhile, Leilani Kapinus (18), Shay Ciezki (13), and Chanaya Pinto (11) all reached double figures in the loss.

A Series Split

Penn State’s men’s hockey team went 1-1 at Pegula Ice Arena last weekend against Ohio State.

In a 2-1 Friday win against the Buckeyes, Jimmy Dowd, Jr. scored the game-winner in the third period. Dowd, Jr. also added an assist, while Kevin Wall had two assists for the Lions.

In a 4-3 Saturday loss, Wall, Danny Dzhaniyev, and Ture Linden scored goals for Penn State, who is now 14-4-0 (6-4-0 B1G) and plays a pair of conference games this weekend in South Bend against Notre Dame.

Squeezing the Orange

Penn State’s women’s hockey team dominated Syracuse in a pair of wins - coming away with a 4-0 win last Saturday and an 11-3 win on Sunday.

Kiara Zanon had a hat trick in the Sunday win and four goals on the weekend.

The women are off until Dec. 30 and 31 when they are home again against LIU.