No. 7 Penn State women’s volleyball (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) topped No. 15 Tennessee (0-1, 0-0 SEC) in its opening match of the year in a comfortable four sets.

After a slow first set on the road, the Nittany Lions cruised to victory, winning the following three sets. Camryn Hannah led the way for Penn State with 19 kills on 31 swings. Jess Mruzik also tallied 19 kills.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions began the opening set dominating at the net with two emphatic blocks. Tennessee responded on its home court to trade points over the next few rallies. Maggie Mendelson recorded her first kill of the night to make it a 6-4 set.

Hannah found some rhythm at the service line to keep the Penn State train moving and leading 9-8. The Lady Volunteers took the lead a couple of points later on a long rally that ended with a Penn State miscue. Gillian Grimes dialed up a much-needed ace for the blue and white to tie it up.

Penn State held a thin advantage of 15-14 at the first media timeout of set one. From there, the opening set turned into a nail-biter. Emily Beeker recorded back-to-back points and the Nittany Lions trailed by three. After a quick timeout, Tennessee grew its lead to four followed by back-to-back points by the blue and white.

Grimes brought it to within a point after another miscue from the Lady Volunteers. The lead for Tennesse was too much and the Nittany Lions dropped the opening set in a close one 25-22.

The second set began much like the first did with some impressive attacks from Penn State. Mruzik fired down two kills early on. A plethora of mistakes committed by Tennessee forced a timeout while down 6-2.

The Lady Volunteers responded well out of the timeout, scoring three straight points to get them back in the set. Hannah stopped the bleeding with her first kill of the set. Taylor Trammel delivered the best block of the night so far for Penn State and the Nittany Lions lead 10-7.

Trammel kept the hot hand going with her attacks, dropping a kill on the Tennessee defense a few points later. Penn State ran away with the second set from there, growing its lead to 18-9. The Nittany Lions took the air out of the crowd in Rocky Top with clinical offensive play and solid defense from their back line.

After a few Tennessee points, Hannah regained the momentum for Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s squad via another kill. Poor passing by the Lady Volunteers persisted for the rest of the set and Penn State tied it up at one, winning the second set 25-16.

Tennessee started better than Penn State to begin the third set, but the Nittany Lions kept it close and eventually retook the lead and the momentum. Mruzik dialed up a few more kills forcing a Lady Volunteer timeout and proving why she is an All-American.

Izzy Starck got in on the action for the Nittany Lions from the setting position and Penn State led 9-4 early in set three. Hannah continued her strong performance offensively and the lead grew for the blue and white approaching the media timeout.

After the timeout, both teams traded points for a few moments in the middle of the third set. Starck continued to pass well as the Nittany Lions led 16-7. Mackenzie Plante scored back-to-back points for Tennessee to prolong the set, but Penn State still had a comfortable lead.

Hanna continued to dominate for the Nittany Lions and her kill made it set point in the third. An attacking error finished things off in the third with Penn State taking the set 25-15

Looking to finish the match off in the fourth set, the Nittany Lions traded points with the Lady Volunteers to open the set. Mruzik delivered once again from her outside hitting position to give her team a 5-4 advantage. Schumacher-Cawley challenged an in-out call and won it for Penn State to keep the score tied at six early in the fourth.

The fourth set turned into a back-and-forth affair, as neither team could rack up back-to-back points and gain a sizeable lead. A few errors by Tennessee made it a 13-10 set before the media timeout. Grimes’ passing to Starck to Hannah delivered a perfect kill and Penn State led 17-13.

Tennessee had no answer for the Nittany Lions offense after that. Kills from Mzurik and Hannah kept the lead at four into the final points of the set. The Lady Volunteers didn’t give up until the end and made it a 21-19 set. The crowd made some noise over the next few points for the home team, but the Nittany Lions prevailed, winning the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.

Takeaways

• Both Penn State and Tennessee played like it was both teams’ opening match of the season. Mistakes plague all of the sets and miscues doomed each team at times, something Schumacher-Cawley will want to fix moving forward.
• Penn State looked like a complete team for much of the night in Rocky Top. Through the first four sets of the 2024 season, the Nittany Lions looked to have no true weakness in their game.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions travel to Philadelphia to face Temple at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 1. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.