“The legacy built by those who came before us is the foundation of our success,” said Katie Schumacher-Cawley on February 14 after she had committed to Penn State till 2030. “And it is my responsibility, and our duty to uphold the tradition, pride, and relentless pursuit of excellence that defines this program.” She did exactly that in 2024 as she led her program to its first NCAA DI women’s volleyball Championship since 2014.

They defeated Louisville 3-1 to become an 8-time Champion, 1 behind Stanford, the most successful women’s volleyball team in college history. They received the trophy right then on December 22, 2024, but 6 months later, the Penn State squad got the prize they had been waiting for.

Yep, Penn State received their Championship Rings on June 13 as Big Ten Volleyball shared the news on X. The caption read, “Ringing in the new season with some bling 💍 Penn State AD Pat Kraft presented @PennStateVBALL with their National Championship rings.” In the video clip shared by Big Ten Volleyball, the collegiate players, who are getting ready for the upcoming 2025 regular season, were seen admiring the rings and showing them off with pride.

Each ring had elements that hold unique significance for the Happy Valley program and the Championship season. Like the pink gemstones, which stand for Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s battle with cancer and how she coached the team while undergoing chemotherapy. Her gallant fight to not only beat the disease but also be on the sidelines of the court, overcoming pain, weakness, and whatnot – in fact, she was all the inspiration they ever needed.

The ring also has the 35-2 season record engraved, along with the year and site of the Championship win, which is Louisville. On one side, there’s a beautiful blue background with their official mascot. Underneath the face of the ring is engraved the team motto, “Evolve, Outwork, Bigger Than Us”. And on the face, there is the proud Penn State emblem. It is encircled by 8 stars, for the 8 Titles they have won.

But that’s not all, though. The ring opens to reveal the base, which has the words “Undefeated in Happy Valley”. And along with it, the engraving of the perfect 20-0 score at Rec Hall. The ring also comes with a removable NCAA trophy pendant. As the girls celebrated the unveiling of the rings, AD Pat Kraft described to them why they should remember this moment. “This is a culmination, right, of incredible hard work, determination, toughness, resiliency, and really a no-flinch attitude. We’re the best team in the country, for sure, and we’re still the best team in the country. And the goal is to continue the domination as a program.”

Well, the next chapter in this journey starts in August. Big things are on the horizon for the Nittany Lions.

The 2025 Regular season promises an exciting challenge for Penn State

As the defending champions, Penn State will go toe-to-toe with 16 teams that made it to the 2025 NCAA Tournament and eight that won conference titles. The first game of the season is the AVCA First Serve event on August 23, when they meet Creighton in Lincoln, Nebraska. Then they play Kansas 2 days later in Sioux Falls, S.D., before heading to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. There, Penn State will meet defending Big 12 champion Arizona State and TCU in the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase.

Once the season-opening tournaments are done and dusted, Schumacher-Cawley’s girls will have a long home stretch of 9 games, beginning with defending SEC champions, Kentucky. They’ll also face the Pittsburgh Panthers, who handed them one of their two defeats last season, thanks to a landslide 3-0 score. So expect fireworks this time.

The Big Ten campaign begins with home matches against USC on September 26 and UCLA 2 days later. And then there is the big match against Nebraska at Rec Hall. Penn State will play the 2024 NCAA semi-finalists on Oct. 3, whom they beat in a historic reverse sweep last year. And while quite a few players won’t be returning to Penn State this upcoming season, Schumacher-Cawley isn’t sweating it. She has the utmost confidence in her current squad and is ready for what promises to be an exciting title defence campaign.