No. 14 Penn State women’s volleyball (23-9, 15-5 Big Ten) was eliminated by No. 3 Wisconsin (28-3, 17-3 Big Ten) Thursday night in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Nittany Lions struggled to contain the momentum surges from Wisconsin as they allowed the Badgers to go on ridiculously long runs, which put them down in the set count early and often. Despite the loss, Penn State was heroically led by Jess Mruzik and Zoe Weatherington who combined for 27 kills.

How It Happened

Taylor Trammell flashed her defensive prowess early on, blocking two hits on the first possession, the latter giving Penn State first blood of the set. Wisconsin answered back with a mighty 8-2 run, taking an 8-3 lead and forcing a Penn State timeout. The Nittany Lions were having major trouble dealing with the Badgers offense at the net.

A kill from Jess Mruzik fresh out of the timeout gave the Nittany Lions some traction as that point was followed up with a service error from the Badgers who now led 9-5. A big swing from Camryn Hannah went ricocheting off of a Badger at the net resulting in another point for the Nittany Lions who again trailed by four.

Just as it looked like Penn State was hitting its way back into the set, Wisconsin kickstarted a 10-0 run, smothering the Nittany Lions offense at the net with their towering height advantage. After an Allie Holland kill finally ended the gargantuan Badger run, a service error from Hannah immediately gave the ball right back to Wisconsin. The Badgers didn’t look back, as Temi Ailara ended the first set 25-11 with a kill.

Both teams opened the second set with service errors, tying it up at 1-1. As Penn State tried to find other ways around the strong Wisconsin frontline, it began to target the right side, where Weatherington landed a kill to cut the deficit to 2-4. The Wisconsin offense remained in control of the match as Sarah Franklin buried a kill into the gut of the Nittany Lion defense, extending its 9-5 lead. However, back-to-back Franklin attack errors and a Weatherington kill got Penn State within two with the score sitting at 8-10. Mruzik came flying in from the backline to land a kill but the relentless Badgers answered back with a kill of their own, as the Nittany Lions still trailed 10-14.

Penn State refused to lie down, as it cooked up a 4-0 run and now was breathing down the neck of the Badgers with the score at 14-15. A rejection at the net from Hannah and an ace from Mruzik knotted the game up at 17-17. Weatherington unleashed a swing for a kill that sounded like a shotgun blast upon impact which was then supplemented by a block by Holland to give Penn State a 19-18 lead. The Nittany Lions kept their foot on the gas taking the next two points and forcing a Wisconsin timeout.

No mercy from Zoe!#WeAre

Watch: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/hrFLRP9KYI

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) December 8, 2023

The Badgers won consecutive points after reconvening during their timeout, then only trailing 21-22. Hannah put a temporary stop to the Wisconsin comeback, as she landed a sharply angled kill. Wisconsin did not blink as it manufactured a 3-0 run that put them up 24-23 and brought them to set point. With ice in her veins, Mruzik landed a kill to knot the setup at 24-24, but once again, the Badgers responded with a kill of their own to go back up 25-24.

Another clutch kill from Mruzik tied it, and then a block from Trammell put the Nittany Lions up 26-25. Both squads were trading blows back and forth with the score still tied at 28-28. A kill from Weatherington pushed the Nittany Lions to set point where Hannah finally ended it at 30-28 with a ferocious hit that Wisconsin was unable to corral.

Wisconsin jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the third set, but Weatherington landed a kill and rejected a hit at the net to close the gap, as the Nittany Lions trailed 3-5. Mruzik joined in on the action with a kill, but she immediately turned the ball over with a service error, keeping the Penn State deficit at two.

Wisconsin strengthened its grip on the set after three straight attack errors from the Nittany Lion offense gave them a 12-7 lead, prompting head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to use a timeout.

The Badgers defense hardened, leaving little room for the Penn State offense to operate and it showed. A service ace from the Badgers extended their lead to 16-7. The third set became awfully similar to the first set for the Nittany Lions, as they now trailed 7-20 and completely lost their handling on the set.

A few points trickled in for Penn State towards the end of the third set, but Wisconsin had enough of waiting around, ending the set 25-12.

Wisconsin came out hot, taking the first three points of the fourth set. However, the Nittany Lions countered with a 3-0 run of their own to tie it up. The back-and-forth nature continued as both teams found themselves knotted at 7-7. The suffocating Wisconsin defense made yet another return forcing a pair of attack errors en route to a 5-1 that put them up 11-7.

The momentum began to boil over for the Badgers, as the crowd’s energy started to become palpable and Wisconsin’s play reflected that. Now leading 17-7, Wisconsin seemed as if it was a snowball rolling down the side of a mountain, growing in size after every point it scored. After forcing Penn State to burn its last timeout and reaching the 20-point mark, the Badgers remained in total control.

Penn State bared its teeth and showed some tenacity as it cranked out a 10-3 run, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t enough to complete a full comeback, as Wisconsin took the fourth and final set 25-18.

Takeaways

• The Penn State offense came out extremely flat as it only managed eight kills and committed 10 errors in the first set.
• After a rough start to the match, Mruzik answered the call in the second set where she finished with eight kills and was untouchable in crunch time where she landed three huge kills that ultimately allowed the Nittany Lions to take the second set.
• After the tremendous effort to take the second set where they hit .326, the Nittany Lions offense sputtered out, hitting -.051 and .05 in the third and fourth set, committing 19 total errors across those sets.
  

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions season has ended. See you next year, folks.