Add another star.

No. 1 seed Penn State women’s volleyball (35-2, 19-1 Big Ten) defeated No. 1 seed Louisville (30-6, 17-3 ACC) in a four-set thriller in the final of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky.

After sweeping Louisville earlier this season, the Nittany Lions followed that up with a four-set victory over the Cardinals. Penn State won the first set but let 10 set-point opportunities slip away in the second set, which allowed Louisville to get back into the match. However, the Nittany Lions refused to let this deter them and showed a lot of resilience to win the next two sets to win their eighth title in program history.

How It Happened

The first set got underway with Taylor Trammell recording the first kill of the match for Penn State before Louisville got on the board with a kill by Cara Cresse. After Caroline Jurevicius recorded a kill on the next point, the Cardinals went on a 3-0 run right after to take a 4-2 lead. This run ended on the next point on a kill by Jess Mruzik.

Both teams went back and forth for the next six points as Louisville’s lead stayed intact. However, the Nittany Lions won back-to-back points with kills by Camryn Hannah and Jurevicius to retake the lead before a service error by Hannah tied the set at eight. Both teams exchanged points before a solo block by Maggie Mendelson and a service ace by Ava Falduto gave Penn State a two-point lead.

After Charitie Luper recorded a kill for Louisville on the next point, Penn State started to put its foot on the gas and went on a 3-0 run to extend its lead to four. This run was highlighted with kills by Mendelson and Hannah. Louisville responded by winning back-to-back points to trim its deficit to two. Hannah recorded a kill on the next point to give the Nittany Lions a 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout.

Out of the media timeout, the Cardinals, fueled by the home crowd, refused to go away and went on a 3-0 run to tie the set at 15. Both teams traded points before Trammell’s kill allowed Penn State to restore its lead. This kill gave a lot of momentum to the Nittany Lions as they won back-to-back points to take a three-point lead. This forced Louisville to take a timeout hoping to end Penn State’s momentum.

This timeout paid dividends as the Cardinals recorded three consecutive kills to tie the set again at 19. This forced Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout hoping for her team to regain its footing.

After the timeout, Mruzik recorded a huge kill for the Nittany Lions on a long rally to give them the lead. This kill gave Penn State momentum as Gillian Grimes recorded a service ace right after to take a 21-19 lead. This forced Louisville to take another timeout.

What a RALLY #NCAAWVB #SCTop10 x ABC / @PennStateVBALL pic.twitter.com/a34iHNKMO2

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 22, 2024

Grimes committed a service error out of the timeout to allow the Cardinals to get within one of the Nittany Lions’ lead. On the next point, Jurevicius recorded a big kill for Penn State to give itself some breathing room. Falduto recorded a service ace right after to get the Nittany Lions within two points of winning the first set.

However, Louisville, with the help of its home crowd, responded with a critical 3-0 run to tie the set at 23. The Nittany Lions refused to let the home crowd deter them and on the next point, Mendelson recorded a kill to give them their first set-point opportunity. Penn State capitalized on its opportunity on a service ace by Mruzik to finish off the first set at 25-23.

SET 1⃣ PSU#NCAAWVB x ABC / @PennStateVBALL pic.twitter.com/aVAznP8pVc

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 22, 2024

Jocelyn Nathan’s ace gave the Nittany Lions the first point of the second set. After Luper recorded a kill on the next point to get the Cardinals on the board, Jurevicius’s kill and Mruzik’s solo block allowed Penn State to take a two-point lead. Both teams exchanged points before a kill by Louisville’s Phekran PK Kong got them within one of Penn State’s lead.

However, Hannah came up clutch for the Nittany Lions and recorded a kill and solo block to give them a 6-3 lead. Both teams traded blows for the next four points as Penn State’s lead stayed intact. The Cardinals responded right after with back-to-back points to decrease their deficit to one once again. Penn State showed its resilience and went on a huge 3-0 run to increase its lead to four. This run was highlighted with a kill and ace by Hannah along with a block assist by Mruzik and Trammell and forced Louisville to take a timeout.

Both teams traded blows for the next four points after the timeout before a kill by Sofia Maldonado Diaz trimmed Louisville’s deficit to three. However, the Nittany Lions refused to let the Cardinals gain any sort of momentum and went on a 3-0 run to take a 16-10 lead. This run was highlighted by a kill by Mruzik and block assists by Hannah and Mendelson, which forced Louisville to take another timeout.

Out of the timeout, Hannah recorded a kill to extend Penn State’s run to four. The Cardinals kept fighting and won back-to-back points to decrease their deficit to five. Both teams went back and forth for the next four points as the Nittany Lions’ lead stayed intact. However, with the help of its crowd, Louisville refused to throw in the towel and recorded back-to-back kills to get within three points of Penn State’s lead. This forced Katie Schumacher-Cawley to take timeout.

The Cardinals continued to seize their momentum out of the timeout by winning back-to-back points to decrease their deficit to one. Both teams exchanged service errors, but the Nittany Lions refused to let the Cardinals tie the set and Jurevicius recorded a huge kill to give them a 21-19 lead. This kill gave Penn State a lot of momentum as it won three consecutive points to give itself its first set-point.

However, the Nittany Lions couldn’t take advantage as Mruzik’s attack error allowed the Cardinals to stay alive in the set. This trend continued for the next two points as a service ace by Nayelis Cabello and a kill by Luper trimmed Louisville’s deficit to two, which made Penn State take a timeout hoping to avoid a collapse.

After the timeout, Louisville seized its momentum and saved two more set points to tie the set at 24. Both teams traded blows for the next eight points as the deadlock stayed intact and Penn State could not take advantage of its set point opportunities. The tables turned right after and a service ace by Louisville’s Payton Petersen gave the Cardinals their first set point. Just like the Nittany Lions, Louisville could not take advantage of its opportunity as Hannah’s kill saved Penn State from catastrophe.

This trend continued for the next six points as neither team took advantage of their opportunities. However, Louisville continued to reel off its home crowd and Luper recorded a critical kill to give the Cardinals their fourth set-point opportunity. Unlike Penn State, Louisville finally capitalized on its fourth opportunity with a block assist by Diaz and Hannah Sherman. This won the set at 34-32 as the Nittany Lions could not take advantage of their 10 set-point opportunities and sent this match into a third set at one set apiece.

The third set started Louisville winning the first point on an attack error by Jurevicius. However, Penn State refused to let that second-set meltdown affect it and went on a 4-0 run to take an early 4-1 lead. This run was highlighted by kills from Mruzik, Mendelson, and Jurevicius. After the Cardinals won back-to-back points to decrease their deficit to one, the Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run to extend their lead, and the Cardinals called timeout.

Louisville took advantage of its timeout and recorded back-to-back kills to get within two points of Penn State’s lead. On the next point, Sherman committed a service error, but the Cardinals recorded back-to-back kills to trim their deficit to one. However, the Nittany Lions showed their resilience and went on a 3-0 run to take an 11-7 lead.

Both teams traded blows for the next four points, but Louisville won back-to-back points to get within two points of Penn State’s lead. Penn State refused to let Louisville gain momentum and went on another 3-0 run to increase its lead to five. This forced the Cardinals to take a timeout hoping to regain their momentum.

After Sherman recorded a kill for Louisville out of the timeout, Mruzik continued to come up clutch for Penn State as she recorded back-to-back kills to take an 18-12 lead. Both teams exchanged points but back-to-back points by the Cardinals trimmed their deficit to four. Both teams went back and forth for the next six points as the Nittany Lions’ lead stayed intact.

Louisville won the next point before Jurevicius and Mruzik recorded back-to-back for Penn State to give itself its first set point. The Nittany Lions couldn’t capitalize on their first opportunity as Grimes committed a service error. However, Penn State refused to let its opportunity slip away and Mruzik recorded a kill to end a critical third set at 25-20 and give itself a 2-1 set lead going into the fourth set.

The fourth set got underway with the Nittany Lions getting off to a fast start by recording three consecutive kills before Luper’s kill got the Cardinals on the board. However, Penn State continued to seize its momentum from the previous set and went on another 3-0 run to take an early 6-1 lead. This run was highlighted with kills by Jurevicius and Mruzik, and Louisville called a timeout to try to stop the bleeding.

Both teams traded kills after the timeout, but Mruzik continued to dominate on the attack and recorded back-to-back kills to extend Penn State to seven. After Luper’s attack error increased the Nittany Lions’ lead to eight, Louisville started to reel off its home crowd and went on a 3-0 run to trim its deficit to five. This forced Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout hoping to cool Louisville’s momentum.

This timeout paid off as Penn State responded with back-to-back points to give itself some breathing room. This forced the Cardinals to take their timeout in desperation to get back in a must-win set.

Hannah recorded a kill after the timeout, but Louisville refused to give up and won back-to-back points to get within six points of Penn State’s lead. After Louisville’s Kamden Schrand recorded a service error on the next point, the Cardinals did not let this deter them and won back-to-back points to get close to the Nittany Lions’ lead.

Both teams exchanged points before back-to-back kills by Jurevicius and Mruzik gave Penn State a 17-10 lead. Both teams traded blows for the next eight points as the Nittany Lions’ lead stayed intact. Trammell recorded a huge kill for Penn State right after to get it within three points of winning the championship.

However, Louisville refused to throw in the towel and reeled off the energy of its home crowd to win back-to-back points. On the next point, Hannah recorded a kill before a service ace by Izzy Starck gave Penn State its first championship point. The Nittany Lions could not capitalize on this opportunity as Cara Cresse’s kill kept the Cardinals alive. However, Penn State refused to let this opportunity slip away and Hannah recorded the kill to give it its first national championship since 2014.

YOUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS#NCAAWVB x ABC / @PennStateVBALL pic.twitter.com/VRJDf8J4aj

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 22, 2024

Takeaways

• What a fitting end to the Nittany Lions’ season. After having to overcome the news of Schumacher-Cawley’s breast cancer and being on the brink of being eliminated in the semifinals, the team showed a tremendous amount of resilience this season to win its first championship in 10 years. Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman in women’s volleyball history to win the NCAA Tournament title.
• Mruzik, take a bow. She was Penn State’s catalyst in the biggest match of her career and led the team with 29 kills. Every time Louisville was reeling off its home-court advantage, Mruzik always found a way to come up clutch for her team. Everyone contributed to this championship, but Mruzik stood out among the entire team.
• Louisville’s home-court advantage played a huge role in this match. The Cardinals looked down and out in the second set after facing a 24-19 deficit in the set but showed a lot of resilience to win the second set. However, they couldn’t follow this up as the Nittany Lions seized the moment right after.

What’s Next?

Penn State is your 2024 NCAA women’s volleyball champion. See you next year, folks.