Penn State Volleyball Under Fire as Fans Question Defending Champions’ Chances for NCAA Title Two-Peat

When Penn State volleyball fell to the much lower-ranked Arizona State on Sunday, the Nittany Lions’ 14-game winning streak finally came to an end. But that was only half of the fans’ worries. When the Penn State loyalists had hoped to see the team defend the NCAA title, Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s girls instead have looked shaky at best in their last three games. The latest blow to the gut, naturally, has the fans wailing.

On Monday, the Nittany Lions fell to No. 24 TCU in five sets at the PPG Paints Arena. The Horned Frogs stunned the No. 5 Penn State volleyball, halting the reigning champs’ reverse sweep attempts. The official Penn State Women’s Volleyball X account shared the match result on September 1 with a frowning caption that read, “Comeback fell short tonight.” TCU bagged the first two sets before Penn State won the next two to push things into a fifth set, where the Horned Frogs retained their calm better than their opponents.

Naturally, the shambolic display on the court wasn’t something the Penn State volleyball fans were hoping to see, especially so early into the title defense season. At the AVCA First Serve last week, the Nittany Lions’ poor condition was exposed when they had to fight tooth and nail against Kansas. Today’s loss, after the defeat to the Sun Devils, obviously hit hard. “Penn state may never win again,” one fan sounded the alarm.

Comeback fell short tonight#WeAre pic.twitter.com/NNJbubauV8

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 1, 2025

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