By: Siri David

On December 22, 2024 Penn State and Louisville faced off in Louisville, Kentucky. This was a big match up because not many people thought that Penn State was going to be in the National Championship. It was a long road to get to this point for both teams. A few days before, Louisville played the University of Pittsburgh and lost. This was a big upset because a lot of people thought they were going to win the whole thing. Penn State played Nebraska, and everyone knew it was going to be a good match but thought Nebraska was going to take it. In the end, Louisville and Penn State won.

This match was a lot bigger than just volleyball. For Penn State, every single player on that team was playing for their coach, Katie Schumacher, who has stage 2 of breast cancer. Throughout the whole season all of her players talked about how everything they do is for her.

Louisville has been underestimated all season and wanted to prove that they could show up and win. Along with the match taking place in Louisville they wanted this win more than anything. Louisville was also in the National Championship two years ago and lost to Texas, so they wanted to show up and play their best game.

When it came down to the actual match it was crazy. Penn State won in four sets. The second set was super close the entire time and this was the only set that Louisville won. Louisville put up a good fight, especially after losing their star player Anna Debeer due to an ankle injury the game before. In the end, both teams put up a great fight but Penn State did take the win.