UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 4 Penn State Women’s Volleyball improved to 13-0 at Rec Hall this season with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-21) sweep over Illinois in a Big Ten match Friday night. The Nittany Lions upped their record to 24-2 overall and 14-1 in the conference, while the Illini dropped to 17-8, 9-6.
Camryn Hannah led a balanced attack for Penn State in the win, hitting .360 with 13 kills. Taylor Trammell, Maggie Mendelson, and Caroline Jurevicius had six kills apiece, while Jess Mruzik tallied five. The Nittany Lions hit .341 behind 31 assists from Izzy Starck.
Penn State dominated the serve-receive portion of the match, racking up nine aces while allowing just two to the second-ranked serving team in the conference as far as aces. Quinn Menger was the star from the service line as she came through with a career-high four aces, including three in the closely-contested first set. Hannah and Mruzik had two aces apiece, while Ava Falduto added one.
Mruzik’s second ace was the 100th of her career. The graduate student, who was recently named as one of 14 semifinalists for the AVCA National Player of the Year award, now has over 1,800 kills, 1,000 digs, 200 blocks, and is right at the 100-ace milestone. She has been especially strong from the service line as of late with eight aces over the past five matches.
Penn State held Illinois to .222 hitting. Raina Terry turned in the strongest performance by an opponent at Rec Hall this season with 19 kills on .500 hitting, but the Nittany Lions held the rest of the Illini to .083 hitting on 60 attacks.
Set 1
Menger’s three consecutive aces were a huge factor in Penn State’s 25-23 win in the opening set. Illinois started fast with a 4-0 run and still led 9-6 before the Nittany Lions went on a 4-0 run to take a one-point edge. The run started with a kill by Hannah, which sent Menger to the service line. She came through with three straight aces to match her career high in just that stretch alone. The teams battled close the rest of the set, and Illinois found itself up 18-16 following a kill by Terry. Penn State responded with a 5-0 run that included kills by Starck, Hannah, and Mendelson, and an ace by Mruzik. The Nittany Lions kept the lead the rest of the way thanks to kills by Mendelson, Trammell, and Jurevicius each time Illinois got within one. Set point was eventually scored on a service error by the Illini.
Set 2
Penn State racked up five blocks and held Illinois to .111 hitting while rolling to a 25-18 win in set two. Trammell, Mruzik, Jurevicius, and Mendelson were in on two blocks apiece. It was a close battle again before the Nittany Lions pulled away with a 3-0 run to go up 19-14. That run was capped by kills from Hannah and Starck. It was close again at 20-18, but Penn State closed the set on a 5-0 run, including the final four points on Illinois attack errors. The first came on a solo block by Trammell, while the second was a block by Trammell and Jurevicius.
Set 3
Hannah outdueled Terry in the final set, hitting .545 with eight kills to overcome Terry’s seven kills on .600 hitting as Penn State won 25-21. Starck tallied 12 assists to lead the Nittany Lions to .333 hitting. Penn State used a 3-0 run to go up 21-17 on a pair of kills from Hannah and one from Trammell. Illinois got back within two at 23-21 on a block by Terry and Ashlyn Philpot, but gave the ball back to the Nittany Lions with a service error. Mendelson closed the match with a kill off a set from Starck.
Career Highs
Caroline Jurevicius – digs (4)
Quinn Menger – aces (4)
Up Next
Penn State heads to College Park to take on Maryland on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The Terrapins enter with a three-match winning streak, beating Michigan State, UCLA, and Ohio State.