No. 4 Penn State women’s volleyball (12-1, 2-0 Big Ten) took care of Michigan State (7-6, 1-2) 3-1 in Rec Hall on Sunday afternoon. The Nittany Lions remain undefeated in Big Ten play to start the year.

Although they dropped the first set, the Nittany Lions maintained their composure and won three straight sets to extend their four-game winning streak. Jess Mruzik led the way with 29 kills and Izzy Starck facilitated the offense, dishing out 55 assists from her setter spot.

How It Happened

Michigan State took the first point of the set thanks to a kill from Aliyah Moore, but Penn State answered with a kill of its own from Caroline Jurevicius to knot it up at 1-1. Penn State generated a small 3-0 run to go up 4-2, but a service error from Ava Falduto flipped possession back to the Spartans. After back-to-back kills from Michigan State, the Nittany Lions opted to call an early timeout, as they trailed 12-8.

Penn State dropped the first point out of their timeout due to an uncharacteristic attack error from Jess Mruzik, but the veteran outside hitter went right back into attack mode during the next point, where she landed a kill. The Spartans led 15-10 as Jurevicius committed back-to-back attack errors at the net, but not for long as the Nittany Lions began to claw back with a 5-2 run that featured a highlight reel kill from Mruzik who climbed from the backline to plaster a ball into the Michigan State defense.

Although the run gave Penn State some momentum, the Spartans were able to maintain their distance with back-to-back kills putting them up 22-18. In a rough spot, Penn State used its last timeout, which proved to be useful as they claimed three straight points afterward, making it a 21-22 game. With not a lot of room for error left in the set, Penn State challenged a call that ruled Falduto’s serve out, but was unsuccessful, making it a 23-21 game in favor of the Spartans. Mruzik landed back-to-back kills to keep the distance, but the effort fell short as Michigan State’s Taylor Preston landed the killing blow to take set one.

This time around, the Nittany Lions drew the first blood of the second set from a Taylor Trammell kill. Penn State took seven of the next ten points, to build a 7-3 lead. Michigan State brought it within two, but Mruzik extended the lead to 12-7 with back-to-back kills. Michigan State opted to use an early timeout to kill some opposing momentum, which proved useful for a moment as Gillian Grimes committed a service error. However, Penn State got its spark back the very next play, as Maggie Mendelson landed back-to-back kills to make it 14-8. The Penn State offense found its groove and began to coast. Now trailing 10-17, Michigan State opted to use its final timeout of the set.

A kill from Camryn Hannah won Penn State the race to the 20-point mark, but the Spartans comeback effort was now in motion, as they took two points in a row and forced a Penn State timeout with the score sitting at 20-16.

Out of its timeout, Penn State landed consecutive kills from Trammell and Mruzik and a service ace from Grimes to go up 23-16. Another kill from Mruzik brought the Nittany Lions to set point, where Michigan State dug their own grave on an attack error from Julia Bishop, with the set ending 25-17.

Trammell set the tone defensively to start the third set, landing two blocks at the net to give Penn State a 2-0 lead. Back-to-back kills from Preston tied it up at 2-2, but the Nittany Lions nabbed seven of the next ten points to take a 9-5 lead. A 6-3 Michigan State run cut the lead down to 12-11, but Penn State answered back with a 3-1 run of their own.

. @Voll_Jess hitting BOMBS right now!

She has 18 kills on .378 hitting#WeAre pic.twitter.com/26zTFpFFOV

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 29, 2024

Penn State was the first team to the 20-point mark thanks to a kill from Hannah but the Spartans would not lie down, as they mustered up a 6-3 run to cut the lead down to two. But that was to no avail as Mruzik plastered back-to-back kills into the heart of the Michigan State defense to put Penn State up 24-21. Mendelson then clinched the third set with a kill of her own.

The Nittany Lions came out swinging to begin the fourth set, taking the first three points via three straight kills. Of course, the gritty girls in green had an answer, as they claimed seven of the next eight points, snatching the lead. In the blink of an eye, Penn State tied the game up at 8-8 after back-to-back service aces from Quinn Menger. The trend of runs came to a halt, as both squads were trading points back and forth with the score remaining tied at 14-14.

The momentum began to tip towards Penn State, as a booming spike from Hannah ricocheted off of a Spartan defender and went high into the air. It forced Michigan State to pass over a free ball which Trammell made them pay for, as she landed her first of back-to-back kills to make it a 20-17 ball game.

Down 18-22, Michigan State burned their final timeout of the set. It proved to be an effective move for them as they took the next three points and in turn, forced Penn State to use their final timeout as well.

Out of the timeout, both squads traded kills, making it a 23-23 game. Yet another kill from Mruzik brought the Nittany Lions to game point, where just like the previous set, Mendelson finished the job.

Takeaways

• Jess Mruzik did much of the heavy lifting on offense as always, finishing with 29 kills, but Maggie Mendelson ended the day with a career-high 14 kills on a strong .480 hitting percentage.
• Taylor Trammell was effective all game, but specifically, she made a handful of winning plays in the fourth and final set including four kills and a block. Her contributions both offensively and defensively in the crunch time could not go unrecognized.
• Penn State was a tad reckless at the net today, ending with 30 attack errors compared to Michigan State’s 18. It was a big reason that the sets were closer than they arguably should have been.

What’s Next?

Penn State remains at home to take on Maryland at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 3.