📍 State College, Pennsylvania
🏐 Home of Penn State Nittany Lions volleyball

Almost 200 miles west of The Palestra in Philadelphia, a strikingly similar structure on the campus of Penn State has been a cathedral for the school’s athletic programs for nearly as long. Old Rec Hall is mildly reminiscent of The Palestra because it was designed by the same architect and opened in 1929, just two years after its Philly counterpart. The venue was utilized by the Nittany Lions’ basketball programs until 1996 and today is well-known in volleyball circles as the home of Penn State’s wildly decorated women’s team.

Rec Hall received several facelifts in the ’60s, ’90s and early 2000s, the latter of which saw the installation of more modern amenities such as videoboards, enhanced concourse design and improvements in the seating bowl. The capacity of the legendary gym can now swell to almost 6,500 for volleyball matches.

While men’s basketball had competed at Rec Hall since the building’s inception, women’s volleyball didn’t arrive until 1976, with the men’s squad following the year after. One of college athletics’ winningest teams, the lady Nittany Lions hold the record for the most home winning streaks in the sport. They also lay claim to 8 straight Atlantic 10 Conference titles – reigning from 1983 to 1990 – and, even more impressively, the Nittany Lions never lost a single conference match during that span. The team joined the star-studded Big Ten in 1991 and have won 18 titles there thus far. They’ve also appeared in the national postseason close to 50 times, playing in nearly a dozen championship games and winning 8 crowns, most recently in 2024.

As a nearly century-old building that has housed many Penn State programs and has witnessed the ascendancy and dominance of the Nittany Lions on its volleyball floor, charming Rec Hall ranks amongst the top facilities in the nation for the sport, standing alongside the likes of other Big Ten volleyball palaces such as Nebraska’s electric John Cook Arena and Wisconsin’s venerable Field House.