No. 4 Penn State women’s volleyball (29-2, 19-1 Big Ten) upset No. 2 Nebraska (28-2, 18-1 Big Ten) in a four-set thriller at Rec Hall on Friday afternoon.

In front of a sold-out Rec Hall, the Nittany Lions clinched a share of the Big Ten title by beating a previously conference-undefeated Cornhuskers team in Penn State’s regular-season finale. The match looked very tight at all times except the second set, but Penn State’s attack came up huge when it mattered most to close out the match in four sets. This was Penn State’s ninth win against a ranked team this season.

Should Nebraska lose to Maryland in a massive upset on Saturday, Penn State would win the Big Ten title outright.

How It Happened

The first set started with the Nittany Lions winning the first point on an attack error by Nebraska’s Merritt Beason. This error allowed Penn State to get off to a fast start as it recorded three straight kills by Jess Mzurik, Maggie Mendelson, and Caroline Jurevicius to take a four-point lead. This run ended on the next point as Taylor Landfair recorded a kill to get the Cornhuskers on the board for the first time in the match.

After that point, Nebraska recorded back-to-back kills to decrease its deficit to one. However, Jurevicius recorded a huge kill for the Nittany Lions on the next point to give them some breathing room. Both teams exchanged kills before the Cornhuskers went on a 3-0 run to take their first lead in the set. On the next point, the Nittany Lions tied the set at seven on a recorded kill by Mendelson. This deadlock was short-lived as Nebraska won the next two points to regain its lead.

Both teams went back and forth for the next four points as Nebraska’s lead stayed intact. However, Penn State showed its resilience and went on a 3-0 run to regain its lead. On the next point, Rebekah Allick recorded a huge kill for the Cornhuskers to tie the set once again. Both teams traded blows for the next four points as the deadlock stayed intact before a kill by Mendelson gave the Nittany Lions a 15-14 lead heading into the media timeout.

Mendelson’s kill gave Penn State a lot of momentum as it won back-to-back points to extend its lead to three after the timeout. After Mzurik committed a service error on the next point, Izzy Starck and Camryn Hannah recorded back-to-back kills for the Nittany Lions to increase their lead to four. This forced the Cornhuskers to take a timeout hoping to regain their footing in the set.

The timeout paid dividends for Nebraska as it won back-to-back points to decrease its deficit to two. This forced Penn State to take a timeout right after hoping to end Nebraska’s momentum.

Out of the timeout, the Cornhuskers kept seizing momentum, extending their run to four on the next two points to tie the set at 19. However, the Nittany Lions refused to give the lead back to the Cornhuskers and responded with a 3-0 run to get within three points of winning the first set. Kills by Hannah and Jurevicius highlighted the run and forced Nebraska to take a timeout.

Penn State extended its run to four out of the timeout on an attack error by Harper Murray. The run ended at four as Jurevicius committed an attack error on the next point. However, Hannah recorded a huge kill for the Nittany Lions right after to give them their first set point. Penn State couldn’t capitalize on its first opportunity as Bergen Reilly recorded a kill for Nebraska. On the next point, the Nittany Lions capitalized on their second set-point opportunity on a kill by Mzurik to finish off a critical first set at 25-21.

The second set got underway with Nebraska getting off to a fast start by winning the first three points of the set. Penn State won back-to-back points right after on a kill by Mzurik and a service ace by Gillian Grimes to get within one point of tying the set.

Both teams traded blows for the next three points before back-to-back kills by Nebraska and an attack error by Hannah gave the Cornhuskers a four-point lead. The errors kept mounting for the Nittany Lions as Mzurik committed an attack error to increase the Cornhuskers’ lead to five. This forced Penn State to take a timeout hoping to cool off Nebraska’s momentum.

After the timeout, Penn State ended Nebraska’s run at four with a block assist by Starck and Mendelson. Both teams exchanged points before a kill by Landfair and a block by Beason and Allick extended the Cornhuskers’ lead to six. Hannah recorded a kill for the Nittany Lions on the next point, but Nebraska kept seizing their momentum and went on a 3-0 run to take a 15-7 lead in the set. This forced Penn State to take yet another timeout in the set.

Both teams went back and forth for the next four points out of the timeout as Nebraska’s eight-point lead stayed intact. The Cornhuskers won back-to-back points on a service ace by Murray and an attack error by Starck to take a double-digit lead. However, the Nittany Lions refused to throw in the towel and responded by three consecutive points to trim their deficit to seven which led Nebraska to take a timeout to cool off Penn State’s momentum.

This timeout paid dividends for the Cornhuskers as they went on a 3-0 run of their own to regain their double-digit lead. This double-digit lead was short-lived as Hannah’s kill and Allick’s attack error decreased Penn State’s deficit to eight. Nebraska refused to give Penn State any sort of momentum and responded with back-to-back points to give it the first set-point opportunity. The Cornhuskers capitalized on the chance with an attack error by Taylor Trammell to cap off the set at 25-14 and head into the third set at one set apiece.

The third set started with Nebraska seizing its momentum from the second set by winning the first three points of the set before Mzurik’s kill got Penn State on the board. This kill gave confidence to the Nittany Lions as they went on to win back-to-back points to tie the set at three.

Both teams traded blows for the next 10 points as the deadlock stayed intact. However, on a long 17th point in the set, Trammell and Mzurik came up huge for the Nittany Lions by recording a block assist to give themselves their first lead in the set. On the next point, the duo once again recorded a block assist to take a 10-8 lead and forced the Cornhuskers to take a timeout.

Some great volleyball being played at Rec Hall!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/i8xViz2j7B

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

After Allick recorded a kill for Nebraska out of the timeout, Penn State showed its resilience and went on a 3-0 run to increase its lead to four. This run ended right after as Murray’s kill and Mendelson’s attack error trimmed the Cornhuskers’ deficit to two. Both teams exchanged blows for the next four points before Hannah’s kill and block assist by Trammell and Starck restored the Nittany Lions’ four-point lead.

Both teams exchanged points for the next six points as Penn State’s lead stayed intact. However, the Cornhuskers refused to go away and took advantage of the Nittany Lions’ errors to get within two points of tying the set. On the next point, Jurevicius refused to give Nebraska any sort of momentum and recorded a huge kill for the Nittany Lions to take a 21-18 lead. This forced Nebraska to take a timeout.

The Cornhuskers recorded back-to-back kills out of the timeout to get within one point of tying the set at 21. Penn State’s head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley decided to take a timeout right after hoping to cool off Nebraska’s timeout.

This timeout paid off for the Nittany Lions as they responded with back-to-back points to get within two points of winning the third set. After Andi Jackson recorded a kill for the Cornhuskers, Beason committed a service error to give Penn State its first set point opportunity. Jackson recorded a huge kill to save a set point for Nebraska, but Hannah came up clutch for the Nittany Lions by recording a kill to end the set at 25-22 and give themselves a critical 2-1 set lead heading into the fourth set.

Set point on a kill by @CamrynHannah and the crowd erupts!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/uvBegYfDFo

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

Murray’s kill gave Nebraska the first point of the set as the fourth set got underway. Mzurik recorded a kill for Penn State right after to get on the board. Both teams traded the next four points before a block assist by Starck and Mendelson gave the Nittany Lions their first lead in the set. On the next point, Lindsay Krause recorded a kill for the Cornhuskers to tie the set at four.

Both teams went back and forth for the next ten points as neither team pulled away. Then, Penn State’s defense came up big as Starck and Mendelson recorded a block assist to take a 10-9 lead in the set. However, Mzurik committed a service error right after, and Murray recorded a kill for Nebraska to take the lead.

However, the Cornhuskers’ lead was short-lived as Penn State’s attack responded when it mattered most. They went on to record four straight kills to take a 15-12 lead in the set. This run was highlighted with kills by Trammell, Hannah, and Jurevicius as we headed into the media timeout.

The run extended to five straight kills out of the timeout as Trammell’s kill extended Penn State’s lead to four. After Nebraska won back-to-back points to trim its deficit to two, Trammell recorded a huge kill for the Nittany Lions to give themselves some breathing room. Both teams traded kills before Jackson’s kill and Mruzik’s attack error got Nebraska within one point of tying the set at 18. This forced Penn State to take a timeout hoping to regain its momentum.

Out of the timeout, the Cornhuskers tied the set at 18 points right away. Then, Jurevicius’s attack error allowed Nebraska to regain the lead. The lead was short-lived as Mendelson’s kill allowed the Nittany Lions to tie the set once again. On the next point, Ava Falduto recorded a huge service ace as Penn State reclaimed the lead at 20-19, which forced Nebraska to take a timeout.

Murray’s kill tied the set up at 20 right after the timeout but Mzurik responded right after for the Nittany Lions with a huge kill to regain the lead. Both teams traded points before a block assist by Trammell and Starck got Penn State within two points of winning the match and forced the Cornhuskers to take a timeout.

Krause committed an attack error out of the timeout, which gave the Nittany Lions their first match point. Krause redeemed herself on the next point with a recorded kill to save a match point for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska got within one point of tying the set at 24 on an attack error by Starck. Schumacher-Cawley challenged the call, but it was unsuccessful. However, the Nittany Lions refused to let the match get away from them and Hannah recorded a huge kill to end the set at 25-23.

Sold out Rec Hall
Upset win
Co-Big Ten champions pic.twitter.com/HRF1DGVsU8

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 30, 2024

Takeaways

• What. A. Game. The Nittany Lions finally defeated Nebraska for the first time since 2018. The sold-out atmosphere at Rec Hall played a part in determining the outcome of this match as Penn State fed off the energy of the crowd every time Nebraska was trying to pull away in the match.
• Penn State’s catalyst was an unexpected one. Jurevicius played the match of her life as she led the team with 18 kills and had the highest hitting percentage in the team. She’s going to have to keep up this momentum when the NCAA Tournament comes around and help Mzurik and Hannah.
• Nebraska’s attack was not as aggressive as usual. The team had a total of 143 attacks and only recorded 46 kills. Penn State had a total of 164 attacks and recorded 57 kills. This played a huge outcome in determining the outcome of the match.

What’s Next?

Penn State will wait to find out who they play in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday after becoming Big Ten champions. Folks can watch the Selection Show at 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 1, on ESPN.