Penn State women's volleyball wins national title as coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley makes history
Penn State’s women’s volleyball team made history on Sunday afternoon as it won the National Championship.
The Nittany Lions defeated Louisville 3-1 (25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17) to clinch the title. In doing so, head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first-ever female head coach to win the Division I women’s volleyball national title.
Schumacher-Cawley is also battling breast cancer. After winning the national title, she credited “so many that have been before” her for paving the way.
“There have been so many [female coaches] that have been before me and that have paved the way for me and I’m so grateful,” she said. “Hopefully there will be more in the future that want to coach and be apart of it. But I’m just so happy.”
HISTORY MADE 👏 🏐 🏆@PennStateVBALL pic.twitter.com/ijIEIizwvY
— espnW (@espnW) December 22, 2024
For Penn State, this is the program’s 8th national championship in women’s volleyball. However, it’s the Nittany Lions’ first title since 2014.
In addition to Schumacher-Cawley making history, it was also another record-breaking day for attendance in women’s sports. Per the NCAA, a record-breaking 21,860 people attended the championship match at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
2️⃣1️⃣8️⃣6️⃣0️⃣ a new National Championship attendance record! 🥳#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/ZIH17kwLyJ
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 22, 2024
Here’s video from the the game-winning point:
YOUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS🏆#NCAAWVB x 🎥 ABC / @PennStateVBALL pic.twitter.com/VRJDf8J4aj
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 22, 2024