No. 11 Penn State women’s volleyball (14-4, Big Ten 8-1) took down Iowa (8-13, Big Ten 0-9) 3-0 Friday night in Rec Hall.

After a hard 3-0 loss to No. 2 Nebraska, the Nittany Lions bounced back with a dominant 42 kills. The team also raised awareness of “Team IMPACT” during the game which connects children living with a serious illness or disability with a collegiate team.

Gillian Grimes also put on a clinic with 19 digs and six assists in a massive defensive performance against the Hawkeyes.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions started down 3-1, but they quickly tied it up at three. The game stayed knotted between both sides until Camryn Hannah’s power came raining down on the Hawkeyes to put Penn State up 11-8.

Despite the scrappy play from the Nittany Lions, a much-needed timeout was called by head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. The Hawkeyes once again tied it up 14-14. Taylor Trammel and Hannah then earned a massive block to force an Iowa timeout and make the score 18-15.

This wasn't getting past Taylor and Cam#WeAre pic.twitter.com/F3TTKsrCaK

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

The momentum continued to roll as Iowa called its second timeout and Penn State reached 20. Jess Mruzik also made her presence known and brought the Nittany Lions to set point. Set one ended with a score of 25-19.

Set two began with back-to-back blocks and a big kill from Allie Holland for the Nittany Lions. Penn State quickly went up 5-0 forcing a timeout from Iowa. Iowa strung together a few points, but a won challenge by Penn State got it the ball back and made it an 8-4 score.

Iowa hit another streak scoring back-to-back aces to bring the score within one at 10-9, but the Nittany Lions got right back 16-12. Penn State kept upping the score to 20-16 with Mruzik leading the way with nine kills.

The second set then reached set point at 24-18 and Penn State ultimately won the set 25-19 to go up 2-0.

The final set had a 3-1 lead for Iowa to start. Penn State began to roll and had a 4-0 scoring run to jump the Hawkeyes 8-4. The latter half of set three held a 13-7 score and a pretty impressive wave from the crowd in Rec Hall.

A hopeful Hawkeye court attempted to come back scoring within four, but it wasn’t enough. The game finished with another kill for Hannah and a final score of 25-17.

Takeaways

• While the pins are a massive part of the Nittany Lions’ offense, middle blockers Allie Holland and Taylor Trammel are integral parts of this team. They combined for 10 blocks and 11 kills Friday night.
• Averaging about one ace per set, serving is another major part of Penn State’s strategy. Serves were not as hot tonight, and it showed in the consistency of scoring for the Nittany Lions.
• Once again, Jess Mruzik brought the heat from the front line. With 14 kills and a .306 hitting percentage, she set a dominant standard for another night.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will hold their annual “Dig Pink” match against No. 19 Purdue at 1 p.m. on Sunday, October 22, in Rec Hall.