No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten) blanked Rutgers (8-3, 0-1 Big Ten) at Rec Hall Wednesday night to open up Big Ten play.

The offense was on fire as the team racked up 52 kills with a collective .390 hitting percentage. The Nittany Lions didn’t disappoint a packed Rec Hall and began the week and conference slate 1-0.

How It Happened

The game started off 3-2 with kills from Camryn Hannah and Allie Holland. Penn State’s Jess Mruzik then added to the stat line with three kills before the Scarlet Knights got the ball back.

Rutgers went on a 3-0 scoring run to tie the game at seven before another set of massive kills from Hannah and Mruzik. The offense was explosive as it jumped up 15-11 before a media timeout.

Laser from the back row!@voll_jess #WeAre pic.twitter.com/x9L2z99vGU

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 20, 2023

Despite the electric energy in favor of the Nittany Lions, Rutgers kept the score within five before calling its first timeout. Mruzik and Hannah continued to grind and combined for 11 kills before the end of the set.

Penn State reached set point at 24-14, and the set finished with a kill from Holland.

Set two once again opened with a 2-2 tie, but Penn State pulled away 7-4. The Scarlet Knights kept pushing, but the Nittany Lions accomplished another 3-0 run, forcing a timeout from Rutgers.

Even with the break, Rutgers couldn’t keep up as Penn State extended its lead 14-8. Holland also ran up her kill count to five. The Nittany Lions also had a 17-10 lead going into a second timeout.

5 swings and 5 kills for @allieholland_#WeAre pic.twitter.com/8SzwHlRqPS

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 20, 2023

Sophomore Alexa Markley made her presence known with back-to-back kills, and a solo block from Taylor Trammel let the Nittany Lions lead by 10. Markley registered her fourth kill of the night to bring set point, and Mruzik closed out the set with another kill to end the set at 25-15.

The final set brought another tie to start at 5-5. Rutgers then earned its first lead of the night 7-6, but was quickly squashed by a kill from Hannah that sparked an 8-0 scoring run.

The dominance continued as Penn State upped the score to 16-8. The Nittany Lions then reached 20 with a kill by Markley and rolled on to set point with a kill from Mruzik.

The game then finished with a set-three score of 25-17.

Player Of The Game

Jess Mruzik | Outside Hitter

Mruzik’s arm was hot Wednesday night as she finished her first Big Ten game as a Nittany Lion with 18 kills and and .533 hitting percentage. After a rough stretch against No. 2 Louisville and two non-conference games at home, this type of dominance sets the precedent for the conference slate ahead.

That's a rocket from @voll_jess to win set 2! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/ELcg64aLAD

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 20, 2023

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will hit the road to face Northwestern at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 24, in Evanston, Illinois.