Penn State's vaunted women's volleyball team will face Texas in the first game of tonight's national semifinal, broadcast live on ESPN2. The event will be a rematch of last year's championship match, which Penn State won in five exciting sets.
↵↵↵Live stats will be available at GoPSUsports.com and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Fans can listen to the match with Dean DeVore, Craig Dyer and Jay Hosack on WRSC-FM 103.1 in State College and surrounding areas and around the world for free on GoPSUsports.com. Airtime Thursday night is 6:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to send comments and questions during the broadcast to Dean, Craig and Jay via Twitter by following @PSUVolleyball.
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Penn State is the three-time defending champion in women's volleyball, but entered the season with mixed feelings. They were riding the longest winning streak in team-based NCAA competition, but also lost their best hitter (Megan Hodge) and all-world setter (Alisha Glass). The streak was eventually snapped, but the Lions pushed ahead, winning another Big Ten title and finished as the 8th ranked team in the country heading into postseason play (where they would receive the 4th seed in the tournament).
↵Penn State has beaten Niagara, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, and 12th-ranked Duke en route to the national semifinals. Texas has beaten UT-San Antonio, UCLA, 8th-ranked Illinois, and 16th-ranked Purdue, who knocked off number one ranked Florida. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Nebraska and No. 3 Stanford have each been knocked off, with USC and Cal making it to the semifinals. Penn State is the highest remaining seed in the tournament.