LATROBE, Pa. – The back-to-back defending Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champion Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team was voted second in the league's 2025 Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released on Tuesday morning.

Penn State Behrend took first place in the poll, followed by Penn State Altoona in second and Alfred State College in third.

Penn State Altoona went 18-12 overall and 7-1 within the AMCC last season, tying for the league's regular season crown and taking the number two seed in the conference postseason tournament. The Lions went on to defeat Penn State Behrend and Alfred State to claim their second consecutive AMCC title and fourth in program history.

Junior outside hitter Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) and sophomore outside hitter Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) were both selected as "Players to Watch" this season for the Lions, who are led by second-year head coach Bob Kasun.

Simanski earned second-team All-AMCC honors last year, when she ranked seventh in the conference in points (342.0) and kills (309), ninth in kills per set (2.71), 10th in points per set (3.0), 11th in digs (343), 14th in digs per set (3.01), 23rd in hitting percentage (.140), and 27th in service aces (26).

Hadley was a third-team All-AMCC pick last season, when she finished 10th in the conference in kills (221), 11th in points (255.5), 12th in digs (309), 16th in kills per set (1.99), 17th in points per set (2.3), 20th in service aces (30) and digs per set (2.78), 31st in hitting percentage (.104), and 33rd in aces per set (0.27).

Penn State Altoona women's volleyball gets its 2025 regular season underway on the road Friday, August 29, and Saturday, August 30, when the Lions will play a trio of matches in the Margie Knight Classic, hosted by Salisbury University. Penn State Altoona faces host Salisbury on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before finishing its weekend against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Thiel on Saturday starting at 12 p.m.