No. 4 Penn State women’s volleyball (24-2, 14-1 Big Ten) swept Illinois (17-8, 9-6 Big Ten) 3-0 at Rec Hall on Friday night.

After a back-and-forth first set, Penn State dominated the second set and did just enough in the third to complete the bounce-back win after a rare loss against Wisconsin. Camryn Hannah led the way with 13 kills.

How It Happened

The Illini got off to a 4-0 start before Penn State finally got on the board due to an attack error. Izzy Starck reached over the net on a Fighting Illini attack, making the score 6-2 in the first set.

Penn State went on a small run to tie the game up at 9-9 after a successful challenge. Quinn Menger smacked three aces in a row to knot the contest up.

The Nittany Lions held a slim 15-14 lead over the Illini as the teams headed into the first media timeout of the match.

Illinois immediately took command coming out of the timeout, going on a 3-0 run to make the score 17-15. Jess Mruzik notched her first kill of the night to stop the bleeding. Maggie Mendelson scored to tie the game at 18-all, then registered a kill of her own to take the lead.

Both teams traded points near the end of the first set, but the Nittany Lions capitalized on an Illinois service error to secure a 25-23 victory.

The second set played a similar story to the first, with both teams firing points back-to-back. Penn State reached a two-point lead at 8-6 after an Averie Hernandez kill. Illinois immediately responded and tied the game up again at 8-8.

The Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to inflate the score to 13-9, forcing Illinois to take a timeout.

Penn State reached its largest lead of the second set as Starck registered her second kill of the night, making the tally 19-14.

Taylor Trammell pounded back-to-back blocks to propel the Nittany Lions within two points of the set win. On the set point, Illinois’ Laynie Smith soared the ball out of bounds. Penn State won the second set 25-18 on a five-point scoring run.

The third set duel started quickly, with Penn State taking a slight 6-5 lead following another successful challenge. The Nittany Lions failed to keep the ball in bounds on multiple ensuing attacks, gifting Illinois three points. Penn State ultimately tied the game at 9-9.

The Illini went on a 4-0 run to make the score 13-9 in the third set, echoing Penn State’s lead in the second set. Katie Schumacher-Cawley called a timeout.

Penn State inched closer to tying the game after the timeout, finally knotting the game with Starck’s third kill of the night.

The Nittany Lions sprinted out to a 4-0 scoring run, running away with a 17-15 lead. Hannah started to take over late in the third set, registering back-to-back kills to bring her total to 12. The score was 17-20.

Trammell chopped down her fifth kill of the night to push Penn State to 21 points in the third set. Hannah continued her late domination with her thirteenth kill.

Illinois continued to fight to the end of the third set, reaching 21 points. However, Mendelson smacked down her sixth kill to win the game for Penn State.

Takeaways

• Hannah led the Nittany Lions with 13 kills on the night. She powered through the end of the third set to wrap up the win.
• The Nittany Lions bounced back with a sweep after their second loss of the season against Wisconsin. They hadn’t registered a sweep in four games, their longest drought of 2024.
• Penn State held Illinois to a .222 hit percentage, showing defensive prowess after being swept by Wisconsin.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions hit the road to College Park for a date with Maryland at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 17. Folks can follow along on BTN+.