Michael T. Mondak speaks: 40 til 40 day 21 (start of second half)

We have begun the second half of the 40 til 40 series of blog posts about anything and everything relevant to the number 40 as it leads up to my 40th birthday on July 10.  In the last post I spoke about the 40 greatest moments in Penn State football history.  I will begin the second half sticking with the Penn State subject, but this time talk about the 40 greatest moments in Penn State sports history (other than football).

40. November 5, 1932:  The Penn State men’s soccer team defeated Army 2-1 to begin a streak of 65 consecutive matches without a loss.

39. December 22, 2024:  The Penn State women’s volleyball team won its eighth national championship by defeating Louisville 3 sets to 1 at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.  It was the first national championship victory since the retirement of longtime head coach Russ Rose three years earlier.  Head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first female head coach to win a national championship.

38. March 7, 1991:  Led by Freddie Barnes, the Penn State men’s basketball team defeated George Washington 81-75 to win the Atlantic 10 basketball championship at Rec Hall and secure the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

37. December 20, 2008:  The Penn State women’s volleyball team swept Stanford in straight sets to cap a perfect season and retain the national championship at Qwest Center in Omaha.

36. March 15, 1991:  The Penn State men’s basketball team upset #4 seed UCLA 74-69 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

35. August 10, 1980:  Rene Portland was named head coach of the Penn State Lady Lions basketball team.  She was the only coach hired by athletic director/head football coach Joe Paterno.

34. March 25, 2017:  The Penn State men’s ice hockey team defeated Union 10-3 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati to win their first ever NCAA tournament game.

33. March 19, 2011:  The Penn State Lady Lions basketball team defeated Dayton 75-66 at the Bryce Jordan Center in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.  It was their first win in an NCAA Tournament game since a 55-49 victory over Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 in 2004.

32. January 10, 2022:  Katie Schumacher-Cawley was named head coach of the Penn State women’s volleyball program following the retirement of longtime coach Russ Rose.

31. April 2, 2009:  The Penn State men’s basketball team defeated Baylor 69-63 to win the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

30. December 18, 2010:  At the Sprint Center in Kansas City, the Penn State women’s volleyball team swept California in straight sets to win its fourth consecutive national championship.

29. June 11, 1957:  The Penn State baseball team, led by ace pitcher Ed Drapcho, advanced to the finals of the College World Series with a 5-4 win over Notre Dame at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

28. March 4, 2023:  The Penn State women’s ice hockey team won its first College Hockey America conference championship with a 2-1 victory over in-state rival Mercyhurst in sudden death overtime at Pegula Ice Arena.

27. March 19, 2011:  The Penn State wrestling team won its first national championship since 1953 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

26. November 16, 2012:  Penn State’s women’s soccer team advanced to the third round of the Women’s College Cup tournament with a 5-2 victory over Boston College at Jeffrey Field, a game in which Eagles soccer player Stephanie McCaffrey was benched due to inappropriate comments posted on social media.

25. March 29, 2018:  The Penn State men’s basketball team defeated Utah 82-66 to win their second National Invitation Tournament championship at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

24. March 20, 1979:  Russ Rose was named head coach of the Penn State women’s volleyball team.

23. March 24, 1998:  The Penn State Lady Lions defeated Baylor 59-56 at the Ferrell Center in Waco to win the inaugural Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

22. July 1, 1992:  Denise St. Pierre was named head coach of the Penn State women’s golf team.

21. April 21, 2009:  Cael Sanderson was named head coach of the Penn State wrestling team.

20. April 29, 2005:  The Penn State men’s lacrosse team defeated Georgetown 13-12 in sudden death overtime to secure an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament one month after Mike Jacober tragically lost his parents and his brother in a plane crash.

19. December 19, 2009:  The Penn State women’s volleyball team won their third consecutive national championship by defeating Texas three sets to two at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

18. May 14, 2023:  The Penn State women’s golf team defeated Iowa by ten strokes to win the inaugural National Golf Invitation Tournament at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa.  Head coach Denise St. Pierre promptly retired after the victory.

17. December 21, 2013:  At KeyArena in Seattle, the Penn State women’s volleyball team defeated Wisconsin three sets to one to win their fifth national championship in seven years.

16. March 21, 1953:  The Penn State wrestling team became the first team east of the Mississippi River to win the national championship at Rec Hall.

15. December 18, 1999:  At the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, the Penn State women’s volleyball team, led by middle blocker Lauren Cacciamani, swept Stanford in straight sets to win its first national championship.  It was the first time all season that Stanford had lost in straight sets.

14. March 20, 1954:  Led by Jesse Arnelle, the Penn State men’s basketball team defeated Southern California 70-61 in the national consolation game of the Final Four at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

13. March 23, 2019:  Bo Nickal, Jason Nolf and Anthony Cassar each won individual national championships in their respective weight classes at that year’s NCAA Wrestling championships at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.  Not surprisingly, Penn State won the team national championship.

12. May 4, 2019:  Mac O’Keefe scored in sudden death overtime to win the 2019 Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse championship 18-17 over Johns Hopkins at highpoint.com Stadium in Piscataway.

11. May 13, 1994:  The Penn State men’s volleyball team, coached by Tom Peterson and led by outside hitter Ramon Hernandez, made history as the first men’s volleyball team outside of California (as well as the first college volleyball team east of the Mississippi River) to win a national championship when they defeated UCLA three sets to two at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

10. March 27, 2000:  The Penn State Lady Lions basketball team defeated Louisiana Tech 86-65 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City to advance to the Final Four at First Union Center in Philadelphia.

9. December 20, 2014:  The Penn State women’s volleyball team swept Brigham Young in straight sets to win their sixth national championship in eight years at Chesapeake Energy Center in Oklahoma City.  They were led by setter Micha Hancock from nearby McAlester.

8. March 30, 2025:  Matt DiMarsico scored in sudden death overtime to defeat Connecticut 3-2 at PPL Center in Allentown and advance to the Frozen Four at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

7. December 6, 2015:  Penn State was looking at the possibility of having their streak of consecutive calendar years winning at least one national championship in serious jeopardy of being snapped.  Enter Raquel Rodriguez.  The midfielder from Costa Rica scored with under twenty minutes remaining in the second half that turned out to be the only goal of the Women’s College Cup finals in Cary, North Carolina.  Penn State’s women’s soccer national championship ensured that the streak of consecutive calendar years winning at least one national championship continued.

6. December 15, 2007:  Outside hitter Megan Hodge’s 26th kill won the national championship for Penn State women’s volleyball over Stanford three sets to two at ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

5. March 22, 2025:  At Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia during the finals of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling championships, the 184 pound individual national champion was Carter Starocci from Erie Cathedral Prep High School, where he made history as the only five time NCAA champion wrestler, a feat that will never happen again due to the expiration of the rule that granted athletes an extra year of eligibility due to the Covid pandemic that prematurely ended the 2019-2020 season.

4. March 18, 2001:  Joe Crispín led the Penn State men’s basketball team to the Sweet 16 with an 82-74 upset over #2 seed North Carolina at the Superdome in New Orleans.

3. March 18, 2017:  Liam Fowlkes won the 2017 Big Ten men’s ice hockey championship for Penn State in double overtime over Wisconsin at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  Penn State became the last team to win a championship at the arena, which closed in July of that year.

2. May 5, 2008:  At the Bren Events Center in Irvine, after dropping the first set of the finals to Pepperdine, Penn State’s men’s volleyball team, coached by Mark Pavlik, won the next three sets to win the national championship.  This championship marked the first time in school history where both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams swept the national championships in a single season.

1. March 17, 2018:  At the NCAA Wrestling championships at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Bo Nickal survived a Myles Martin takedown and reversed Martin, leading to Martin getting pinned and Nickal winning the individual 184 pound national championship and the team national championship for Penn State.