No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball Survives Ohio State In 3-2 Win
No. 3 Penn State women’s volleyball (17-1, 7-0 Big Ten) hung on to beat Ohio State (8-9, 1-6 Big Ten) 3-2 in Columbus Friday night. The Ohio State crowd set a program record with 8,844 in attendance, and it made an impact all match.
Despite dropping two sets, the Nittany Lions scrapped together the win by taking the fifth set 16-14. Jess Mruzik and Taylor Trammell led the way with 29 and 11 kills, respectively.
How It Happened
It was an unusually rough start for Penn State. Ohio State surged to a 6-0 lead and Nittany Lions head coach Kaite Schumacher-Cawley called an early timeout. Emily Londot had two kills and Mia Tuman had an ace for the Buckeyes in the run.
After the timeout, things quickly changed. Ohio State’s lead was suddenly cut to 6-5 due to Mruzik’s kill and multiple Buckeye errors. Both teams then went back and forth with lots of errors from both sides.
At 12-10 Ohio State, Trammell’s kill and another Buckeye error cut the lead to one again, but Rylee Rader and Emmi Sellman each got kills to re-extend the lead. Mruzik got two more kills for Penn State, but her attack error and Ava Falduto’s service error padded Ohio State’s cushion at 17-13.
Hannah Camryn and true freshman Izzy Starck both notched kills before the Buckeyes went on a 3-0 run that consisted of two kills and an ace. The Nittany Lions used their final timeout of the first set, down 21-16.
Ohio State got a kill after the break but Trammell recorded a kill and a block assist with Caroline Jurevicius to make it 22-18. From there, Ohio State put the set on ice. Sellman got two more kills and Rader’s kill ended the first set 25-20 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Like the first set, Ohio State struck first to start the second set. But instead of another 6-0 run, Trammell and Anjelina Starck got kills for Penn State’s first lead of the match. The lead didn’t last for long, though.
The Buckeyes had a 4-0 run with four straight kills before Mruzik ended the run with back-to-back kills. But Ohio State didn’t let up. It came back with another run, this time a 3-0 run, to make it 8-4 Buckeyes.
Mruzik and Maggie Mendelson teamed up for a block and an Ohio State service error cut its lead to two. However, Hannah, Mruzik, and Anjelina Starck all recorded kills and tied the set at 9-9. Both teams kept exchanging blows until Sellman’s kill and Mruzik’s attack error made it 14-12 Buckeyes.
However, Schumacher-Cawley pulled out the green card and used her challenge to overturn Mruzik’s error to a kill. Mendelson then tallied two kills to give the Nittany Lions a 15-14 lead before the media timeout.
Penn State went on a 3-1 burst after the break with two kills from Hannah and a block by Izzy Starck and Trammell. The Nittany Lions kept fighting off the Buckeyes to defend their two-point lead until a Hannah error tied the set at 18-18.
Sellman got another kill for Ohio State to cap off a 3-0 run as Penn State used its first timeout of the second set. Hannah committed an error out of the break, but Trammell got the point right back with a kill to kickstart a 3-1 run for the Nittany Lions.
Ohio State then used its first timeout of the match at 21-21. After the pause, Mruzik notched two more kills to Ohio State’s one to give Penn State the lead. A Buckeye error then put the Nittany Lions within striking distance of its first set of the match at 24-22.
Ohio State used its final timeout, but Penn State claimed the second set 25-23 off of Mruzik’s kill.
The third set started with both teams exchanging the first 10 scores to make it 5-5. Trammell started to find her groove with three kills in a row, but Ohio State matched each score to keep the set tied. Mruzik and Izzy Starck finally broke the long series of alternating scoring with consecutive kills.
Mendelson then got a kill to make it a 3-0 run for the Nittany Lions for the 12-10 lead. Ohio State temporarily ended Penn State’s momentum, but Mendelson’s kill, Trammell’s and Hannah’s block, and an error made it 15-12 Nittany Lions at the media break.
Penn State went on a 3-1 run with a kill by Trammell and a Hannah ace to force an Ohio State timeout at 18-13. The Buckeyes scored twice after their timeout, but the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to force the last Ohio State timeout of the set at 21-15.
It's a @CamrynHannah ACE!
— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 19, 2024#WeAre pic.twitter.com/UNHayXddwJ
Ohio State got back in the scoring column, but Penn State took over the rest of the set. Izzy Starck and Mendelson teamed up for a block, Mruzik got a kill, and another Buckeye error sealed the third set 25-16 for the Nittany Lions.
Ohio State caught fire at the start of the fourth set. The Buckeyes started with a dominant 8-2 run. The run consisted of three aces, three Penn State errors, and two kills.
Izzy Starck’s kill ended the Buckeye’s run and started a 5-2 run for the Nittany Lions. This run consisted of two kills from Hannah and a Mendelson kill.
Both teams exchanged the next couple of scores until an Ohio State kill and a Penn State error made it 13-8 Buckeyes. But all of a sudden, the Nittany Lions found their groove again.
Mruzik recorded three kills and Gillian Grimes recorded a very rare kill from the libero position to make it 13-12 Ohio State. That was Grimes’s second kill of the season and the fourth of her three-year career.
Penn State tied the set after an Ohio State error, but the Buckeyes quickly got the lead back. It was back and forth with one point being the biggest lead for the Buckeyes until Trammell’s back-to-back kills knotted the set at 18-18.
However, Trammell’s second kill was challenged and overturned and Ohio State scored off a kill and two Penn State errors to make it 21-17. The set started to slip away from Penn State when another Buckeye kill and Nittany Lion error made it 23-17. Ohio State hung on to force a fifth and final set.
The final set started with both teams splitting the first four scores until an Ohio State attack error and a kill by Izzy Starck made it 4-2 Penn State. The Buckeyes went on a 3-1 run to tie it at 5-5 until Mruzik scored a kill to regain the lead.
Both teams took turns with the lead until the media timeout when Penn State had an 8-7 lead off a kill by Alexa Markley. Trammell and Markley then combined for a block to extend the lead to two. A Buckeye error forced them to call a timeout down 10-7.
Ohio State found the scoring column again with a 3-0 run to tie the set at 10-10 and force Penn State to use a timeout. The Buckeyes then scored two more times, but Mruzik bit into the deficit again. Ohio State landed another kill to make it 13-11 and the Nittany Lions called their final timeout of the match.
Mruzik, again, with a kill to keep Pen State alive, then a bad set tied it at 13-13. Ohio State called its final timeout of the match and it forced a service error for the Nittany Lions. Mruzik, once again, kept the game alive with her 29th kill to make it 14-14.
The winner of the match now has to win this set by two and Penn State did just that. Hannah notched a clutch kill and an attack error on Ohio State ended it. The Nittany Lions took the fifth and final set 16-14.
Takeaways
- It was ugly, but Penn State got the job done. The Nittany Lions continue their nine-game winning streak and regular-season Big Ten winning streak.
- Jess Mruzik kept Penn State alive the entire match. The veteran outside hitter had 29 kills on 79 attacks.
- True freshman setter Izzy Starck continued her impressive season against Ohio State. She had 50 assists and 5 kills.
- Ohio State true freshman Emmi Sellman had the game of her life. She had 27 kills, an ace, and hit .286.
What’s Next?
Penn State returns to Rec Hall to face No. 14 Minnesota for the Dig Pink game and Alumni Day at 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 20. The game can be streamed on BIG+.
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