No. 14 Penn State women’s volleyball (21-8, 15-5 Big Ten) handled Ohio State (10-18, 7-12 Big Ten) in three sets on Friday night.

The Nittany Lions convincingly won their regular-season finale in Columbus, Ohio. The blue and white racked up 43 kills en route to their victory over the Buckeyes and have now won five straight games as they move into the postseason.

How It Happened

The Buckeyes jumped to a 4-0 lead over the Nittany Lions to start the first set, but Camryn Hannah ended the Ohio State run with a kill to put Penn State on the board.

Ohio State immediately regained possession and a point due to a Gillian Grimes service error and then followed that up with an Emily Londot kill to put the score to 6-1. The Nittany Lions regained composure and found some offense at the net, sparking a 5-2 run to cut down the Ohio State which sat at 8-6.

Both squads traded attack errors, but Penn State continued to narrow the gap with help from Taylor Trammell who registered back-to-back blocks and a kill to fuel a 3-0 Penn State run that put the score at 10-9. The Buckeyes responded with a 3-0 run of their own to extend their 13-9 lead and force a Penn State timeout.

Trammell sends it back and it's another 3-0 run!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/fTSPworDgP

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) November 25, 2023

The Nittany Lions rallied out of their timeout, going on a 5-1 run to tie the set at 14-14. Finally, the Buckeyes ended the run with another kill from Londot and an attack error by Penn State.

Ohio State continued to regain its grasp on the set, going on a 3-0 run to climb out to a 19-15 lead. The trend of 3-0 runs continued, as the Nittany Lions cooked up another of their own, forcing Ohio State to burn a timeout with the score sitting at 19-18.

Fresh out of the timeout, Jess Mruzik blasted a kill from her outside hitter position to tie the game up at 19-19, but Ohio State reached the 20-point mark first as Penn State committed its third service error of the set. Penn State finally took its first lead of the set off of an Ohio State attack error. Both teams began to trade punches as time dwindled down in the first set.

With the score now at 22-22, Zoe Weatherington committed an attack error, putting the Buckeyes up 23-22. Katie Schumacher-Cauley took a timeout to slow things down.

The Buckeyes committed a service error to tie the game up at 23-23, but Ohio State’s Londot snatched the lead right back with another kill, bringing the game to set point. The Nittany Lions refused to lie down as Trammell landed a kill from the middle, and a Buckeyes attack error forced Ohio State to use their last timeout as they now trailed Penn State 24-25.

The Buckeyes drew first blood of the second set, but Penn State quickly answered with back-to-back points to take a 2-1 lead early on. The Buckeyes responded with a 4-0 run, fueled by Londot, whom the Nittany Lions had no answer for at that point. However, Penn State grabbed the next four points to tie it to take a 6-5 lead.

Although the Penn State 4-0 run was briefly stopped by a Zaria Ragler kill, it immediately built another one, forcing a Buckeye timeout in the process.

The Nittany Lions’ dominant start to the second set continued as they stretched their 12-0 run to extend their 18-6 lead. Finally, a tick-tacky net violation was called on the blue and white which ended their ridiculous 12-0 run.

Ohio State gained some traction after spinning out of control for a majority of the set, thanks to a handful of kills, but it wasn’t enough as Mruzik and Camryn closed out the second set with kills of their own.

And @CamrynHannah's 11th kills ends set two!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/tZTdnJfFkI

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) November 25, 2023

The Buckeyes climbed out to a 4-2 lead to start the third set, but Penn State responded with a 3-0 run to take a 5-4 lead. Trammell and Weatherington ferociously rejected a hit from Ohio State to go up 10-9 after the two teams traded ties.

The seesawing continued with the score sitting at 17-16 in favor of the Nittany Lions as neither squad gained any major distance over the other. An ace from Mac Podraza prompted the Buckeyes to use their first timeout at 19-16.

The Buckeyes took the first point out of the timeout, but Penn State reached the 20-point mark off of a Trammell kill. The Buckeyes took three of the next five points, which pushed Schumacher-Cawley to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Weatherington pounded a kill into the Buckeye backline which prompted Ohio State to use a timeout of its own with the score at 23-20. Ohio State won three straight points out of its timeout, tying the set for the ninth time at 23-23.

Once again, Penn State leaned on its two best hitters in the clutch, and they answered. First, it was Hannah with a kill, followed by Mruzik to seal the deal at 25-23.

. @Voll_Jess finishes the sweep!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/R2FPltyorV

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) November 25, 2023

Takeaways

• Camryn Hannah’s serving was crucial to the 12-0 second-set surge for the Nittany Lions. The combination of power and accuracy gave the Buckeyes’ returners trouble, which consistently kept Ohio State’s offense out of rhythm. She also contributed 17 kills.
• Penn State was ferocious on the defensive end of the ball, blocking 16 shots compared to the Buckeyes’ eight. That played a part in Ohio State’s putrid .057 hitting percentage across all three sets.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will await selection in the NCAA Tournament. The first round is set for Thursday, November 30, while the Selection Show is slated for Sunday, November 26.