No. 4 Penn State Women’s Volleyball Rallies To Beat Washington 3-1 On Senior Day
No. 4 Penn State women’s volleyball (27-2, 17-1 Big Ten) took down Washington (19-9, 9-9 Big Ten) 3-1 in Rec Hall Sunday afternoon in a back-and-forth battle.
After dropping the first set, the Nittany Lions won three straight and beat the Huskies 3-1 behind Camryn Hannah and Jess Mruzik’s combined 31 kills.
How It Happened
Katie Schumacher-Cawley rolled out a starting lineup with all five seniors: Taylor Trammell, Hannah, Mruzik, Quinn Menger, and Anjelina Starck, as well as Gillian Grimes and Izzy Starck.
Hannah had a kill attempt blocked at the net by Emoni Bush and Elise Hani before Trammell and Izzy Starck combined for a Penn State block to even the score at 1-1 to begin the first set.
The set continued to go back and forth, but Grimes and Hannah each made service errors to put the Huskies up 5-3.
After a kill was put down by each team, Izzy Starck had a kill and Mruzik dropped in a service ace to make it 6-6. However, the next serve resulted in a Mruzik error, while Kierstyn Barton did the same, tying it again at 7-7.
A kill made up a Hannah service error before Bush had a kill on the sideline to extend Washington’s lead to 10-8. Falduto made Penn State’s fourth service error, Mruzik made an attack error, and Julia Hunt had a block for a point, making it 13-9.
A long rally resulted in a double block by Trammell and Caroline Jurevicius to get one point back for the Nittany Lions, but the match reached its first media timeout following a kill and ace by Hunt with the Huskies up 15-10.
Following the break, Hunt sent a serve into the net, but Barton got the point right back with a fast-paced kill. The Nittany Lions closed the gap to 17-14 after a net violation was called against Bush.
After a Bush kill and Mruzik error made it 19-14, Hannah went on a solo 2-0 run to cut the Washington lead to 19-16 and force a Husky timeout. However, a Hunt block, assisted by Madi Endsley, resumed play.
Kills by Jurevicius and Mruzik, along with an Ava Falduto service ace, made the score 20-19 in favor of Washington. The Huskies then made it a two-point lead at 23-21 and Schumacher-Cawley took a timeout.
Kiune Fletcher made it set point out of the timeout with an ace but made an error on the ensuing serve. Izzy Starck then assisted Hannah for two consecutive kills, tying the set at 24-24.
After a Washington timeout, the two teams continued to battle, with both having multiple set-point opportunities, but Penn State called a timeout when Washington went up 28-27.
Out of the break, Audra Wilmes put down a kill in the middle of the floor to give the Huskies a hard-fought first-set victory and take a 1-0 match lead.
Penn State opened the second set with a 2-0 run and continued to dominate with Mruzik’s two kills and one block, which was assisted by Maggie Mendelson, in a 5-1 start to the set.
Barton made an attack error to extend Penn State’s lead to 6-1 before Hunt ended the run with a kill. However, Mendelson and Izzy Starck combined for another block to make it 7-2 before Endsley answered with a kill.
While they were able to put together a couple of points, the Huskies couldn’t crawl back in early in the set as the Nittany Lions used kills by Hannah and Jurevicius to go up 11-5 to force a Washington timeout.
The Penn State dominance continued as Mendelson and Mruzik had a kill apiece along with combining for a block to extend the lead to 17-7 and cap off a 4-0 run.
Endsley’s kill finally put an end to the spurt, but it was answered by Mendelson’s kill off an assist from Mruzik. The Nittany Lions’ lead was quickly extended to 22-9 via a Menger ace, causing Washington to call a timeout.
Another Menger ace and a misfire by Fletcher made it set point for Penn State, and Washington couldn’t answer as the Nittany Lions won the second set in dominant fashion by a score of 25-9.
Set three began with a 5-0 Washington run led by two Lauren Bays service aces, but a Trammell kill and block by Mendelson made it 5-2.
Shortly after, Washington began to roll again, forcing a Penn State timeout with a 10-3 lead behind two straight Barton kills that were assisted by Alexis Haury.
The Huskies added two more points before a Hannah back-row kill finally put an end to the run. Izzy Starck followed it with a kill of her own to make it 12-5. The two then each got another kill to make it a 4-0 Penn State run and cut the lead to five.
A Mendelson block error and Fletcher kill stopped the run and put Washington back on top by seven. The Husky run didn’t last long, as Penn State quickly cut its deficit back down to 14-10.
After a back-and-forth stretch, Hannah and Mruzik took over for Penn State to make it 16-15 Washington, but the Huskies got one back from a Hannah service error. The two-point lead was quickly erased when Jurevicius’ kill and Grimes’ ace made it 17-17 and forced a Washington timeout.
Grimes ACE!
— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) November 24, 2024
We're tied after being down 12-3!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/k1ItwJkFyP
The Nittany Lions took their first lead of the set at 19-18 after the stoppage, extended it to 22-20 after unforced errors were made by each team, and made it set point at 24-21 following another error by Barton.
Washington called a timeout before Penn State went after the third set victory, and a Barton kill cut the lead to two. On the next point, Grimes set Hannah for her 18th kill of the day to win the set and take a 2-1 lead.
Bays’ third ace of the day gave Washington a quick 3-1 lead early in the fourth set before the blue and white tied it at 3-3 with the help of a Fletcher error. The set remained close, remaining knotted up at 7-7 moments later.
The Nittany Lions took a 9-7 lead that was quickly lost when Washington evened the score at 10-10, and the rally continued to 13-13. Penn State went back up 15-14 heading into the fourth set’s media timeout.
With the back-and-forth action continuing, Penn State found a cushion after Mendelson’s seventh kill and a Bush attack error made it 20-17, forcing Washington to take a timeout.
The Nittany Lions held onto their lead late in the set, forcing another Husky timeout after Mruzik had a service ace to make it 23-19. After the break, Hannah had another strong kill down the sideline to create set and match point at 24-19.
Hunt’s kill attempt went out of bounds, and Penn State closed out the fourth set with a 25-19 win and 3-1 match victory for the Nittany Lions’ 27th victory of the season.
Takeaways
- Service errors quickly became an issue for Penn State in this match, having six in the first set alone, which is not a typical problem the team has.
- Slow starts have troubled the Nittany Lions in the past, but they responded well in the second set, holding Washington to -.094 hitting and cruising to a 25-9 set win.
- Hannah was nearly unstoppable at the net, putting down 19 kills in the match.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions will travel to Rutgers for their final away game of the season at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 27, at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
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