No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball Defeats Iowa 3-1
No. 3 Penn State women’s volleyball (22-1, 12-0 Big Ten) defeated Iowa (9-15, 3-9 Big Ten) 3-1 in Rec Hall on Friday night.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Nittany Lions finished off the Hawkeyes in four sets to extend their Big Ten winning streak to 12. Despite Iowa’s losing record, the Hawkeyes gave Penn State a run for its money but its elite attack led by Jess Mruzik and Camryn Hannah coupled with the Rec Hall environment allowed the Nittany Lions to avoid the upset.
How It Happened
The first set started with Iowa winning the first point of the match before Penn State got on the board with a Mruzik kill. After both teams traded the next four points, the Nittany Lions took their first lead in the set on an attack error by Iowa’s Malu Garcia. Iowa tied the set at four on the next point with a kill of its own.
Both teams went back and forth for the next four points as the deadlock stayed intact. However, the Hawkeyes retook the lead at 7-6 with a kill by Jenna Meitzler. This kill gave Iowa momentum as they went on to win the next two points to take a three-point lead in the set. Penn State went on to respond with a 4-0 run of its own to retake the lead in the set at 10-9. This run was highlighted by kills by Taylor Trammell, Mruzik, and Maggie Mendelson along with a service ace by Gillian Grimes.
This run ended with a kill by Iowa to tie the set once again at 10. However, Penn State showed its resilience and went on a 3-0 run to take a three-point lead in the set before an attack error by Mruzik ended it. After Mruzik’s attack error, the Nittany Lions refused to give the Hawkeyes any sort of momentum and responded with back-to-back kills to take a 15-11 lead in the set.
Out of the break, Penn State made it three straight kills with a kill by Mruzik. The run extended to four before a kill by Iowa’s Claire Ammeraal ended it. The Nittany Lions kept seizing their momentum and went the next two points to extend their lead to seven. This forced the Hawkeyes to take their first timeout of the set hoping to end Penn State’s momentum.
This timeout paid off as the Hawkeyes went on to win back-to-back points to trim their deficit to five. After both teams exchanged kills, Penn State recorded back-to-back kills to restore their seven-point lead.
Both teams traded kills before a service error by Grimes decreased Iowa’s deficit to six. However, the Nittany Lions got their first set-point opportunity thanks to a kill by Anjelina Starck. Penn State failed to capitalize on its first two opportunities as Iowa recorded back-to-back kills to trim the deficit to five. Then, the Nittany Lions finally converted on their third opportunity on an attack error by the Hawkeyes to cap off the set victory at 25-19.
Unlike the first set, the Nittany Lions won the first point of the set on a kill by Mruzik before Iowa responded with a kill of its own. Both teams went blow-for-blow for the next four points as the deadlock stayed intact. However, Iowa took the lead in the set at 4-3 with a kill by Alyssa Worden. Its lead increased to two on the next point due to an attack error by Camryn Hannah. After both teams exchanged points, the Hawkeyes extended their lead to three with a service ace by Hannah Whittingstall.
Then, Penn State responded with back-to-back kills to trim their deficit to one. However, the Hawkeyes went on a 3-0 run to take a four-point lead in the set. After Mendelson’s kill trimmed Penn State’s deficit to three, Iowa kept seizing the momentum and went on yet another 3-0 run to take a 13-7 lead in the set. Both teams exchanged kills before the Nittany Lions took their first timeout of the match hoping to regain their footing in this set.
After the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next four points before Penn State won back-to-back points to decrease their deficit to four. However, Hannah committed an attack error on the next point which allowed Iowa to restore its five-point lead. After the error, the Nittany Lions won back-to-back points to get within three of Iowa’s lead. Garcia recorded a kill for Iowa on the next point before Hannah’s kill and an attack error by the Hawkeyes trimmed Penn State’s deficit to two and forced Iowa to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Penn State got within one point of tying the set at 18 due to a bad set by Iowa. However, the Hawkeyes refused to let the Nittany Lions seize their momentum and responded with a 3-0 run to take a 21-17 lead in the set. This forced Penn State to take another timeout in the set hoping to regain their momentum.
Caroline Jurevicius recorded a kill out of the timeout before Iowa responded with a kill of its own. Both teams exchanged kills before an attack error by Starck gave the Hawkeyes their first set-point opportunity. Iowa failed to convert on its first opportunity as Mruzik’s kill decreased Penn State’s deficit to four. However, the Hawkeyes capitalized on their second set point opportunity to take the set at 25-20 and tie the match at one heading into the third set.
The third set got underway with Iowa winning the first point before Mendelson’s kill got Penn State on the board. Both teams exchanged errors before a kill by the Hawkeyes gave them a 3-2 lead. Mruzik stepped up for the Nittany Lions and won the next two points with a kill and ace to take the lead in the set. After Iowa tied the set at four with a kill of its own, Penn State went on a 4-0 run to take a four-point lead. This run was highlighted with three kills by Hannah and forced Iowa to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the run extended to five due to an ace by Mendelson. This run ended on the next point as the Hawkeyes recorded a kill. However, Penn State kept riding their momentum and went on a 3-0 run to increase their lead to seven. After a service error by Izzy Starck, Hannah, and Trammell recorded back-to-back kills for the Nittany Lions to extend their lead to eight. However, Iowa refused to throw in the towel and responded with a 6-0 run to trim Penn State’s lead to two. This forced the Nittany Lions to take a timeout hoping to end the Hawkeyes’ momentum.
This timeout paid dividends as the Nittany Lions showed their resilience by responding with a 4-0 run to take an 18-12 lead in the set. This run was highlighted by kills by Trammell, Mruzik, and Jurevicius along with a service ace by Grimes. This forced the Hawkeyes to take a timeout hoping to regain their momentum.
Out of the timeout, Penn State kept putting their foot on the gas and extended their run to seven to take a nine-point lead. This run ended on the next point due to a kill by Iowa’s Gracie Gibson. Both teams traded the next four points before a service error by Mruzik decreased Penn State’s lead to seven. The Nittany Lions got their first set-point opportunity on the next point due to an attack error by the Hawkeyes. Penn State failed to capitalize on its first opportunity but Hannah’s kill on the next point finished off the set for the Nittany Lions at 25-17.
Mendelson’s kill and Ava Falduto’s ace won the first two points of the fourth set for Penn State before Iowa responded with back-to-back points to tie the set at two. Both teams went back and forth on the next four points as the deadlock stayed intact. After an ace by Grimes, the errors for the Hawkeyes started mounting up as they committed back-to-back errors which allowed the Nittany Lions to take a three-point lead in the set.
Both teams traded blows for the next six points as Penn State’s lead stayed intact. On the next point, Mruzik committed an attack error which allowed the Hawkeyes to trim their deficit to two. Both teams exchanged kills before an attack error by Jurevicius got Iowa within one point of tying the set at 11. However, Penn State refused to relinquish their lead and went on to record three straight kills to take a 14-10 lead. The Hawkeyes responded right after with back-to-back kills to get within two. A media timeout occurred right after Mruzik recorded a kill for the Nittany Lions.
Out of the break, both teams exchanged errors before Hannah’s kill extended Penn State’s lead to four. This kill gave them a lot of momentum as they went on to win the next three points to take a 20-13 lead which forced Iowa to take a timeout hoping to get back in the set.
After the timeout, the errors kept piling up for the Hawkeyes as they committed back-to-back errors to allow the Nittany Lions to get within three points of winning the match. However, Penn State got sloppy and committed back-to-back errors which allowed Iowa to decrease their deficit to seven. The Nittany Lions responded by winning the next points to get their first match point opportunity. Penn State failed to capitalize on its first opportunity but a service error by Iowa allowed the Nittany Lions to finish off the set at 25-16.
Takeaways
- The Nittany Lions were tested in a game that they shouldn’t have been. They struggled to put away the Iowa Hawkeyes in three sets and were forced to dig deep to avoid the upset. The Hawkeyes matched the Nittany Lions’s intensity through three sets before Penn State ran away with the fourth set.
- The duo of Jess Mruzik and Camryn Hannah were once again the catalysts in Penn State’s win. Both recorded 15 kills each and had half of the team’s 60 kills.
- Iowa struggled to hit the ball efficiently and it was a huge factor in determining the outcome of this match. The team had a hitting percentage of .181 compared to Penn State’s .321.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions will have a week of rest before they hit the road to take on Northwestern at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 8. The game will air on Big Ten Plus.
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