UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 14 Penn State Women's Volleyball picked up a ranked win in its home opener Friday night at Rec Hall, posting a 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18) win over No. 22 Western Kentucky. The Nittany Lions improved to 1-2 on the season, while the Hilltoppers fell to 3-2.
Jess Mruzik showed what she is capable of her in her first match at Rec Hall in a Penn State jersey. She went off for 21 kills on .333 hitting and added five blocks, including three solo, and four digs. The outside hitter needs just two more kills to reach 1,000 for her career.
Mruzik is one of three Penn State players approaching the 1,000-kill milestone. Camryn Hannah provided a spark with nine kills against Western Kentucky to give her 971 for her career. Zoe Weatherington is up to 958 after tallying five in the win.
The Nittany Lions received quality play in the back row as Maddy Bilinovic and Gillian Grimes each racked up 14 digs. Cassie Kuerschen added seven. Mac Podraza guided the offense with her 36 assists, but also did her part defensively with nine digs.
Penn State entered the weekend as the national leader in blocks/set and kept that momentum going with 12 more against the Hilltoppers. Taylor Trammell had five in addition to her seven kills. Allie Holland turned to her offense to support the win, hitting .333 with six kills.
Set 1
Kenadee Coyle had five kills on six swings and Western Kentucky hit .300 as a team while taking the first set 25-22. It was a close set most of the way with the score tied 16 times and four lead changes. Penn State led 21-20 after a kill by Mruzik. The Hilltoppers countered with a 3-0 run before Trammell put a stop to it with a solo block. Coyle made it set point with a kill, and Kaylee Cox wrapped it up with an ace.
Set 2
Penn State won the second set 25-18 despite hitting just .028 thanks in large part to holding Western Kentucky to .054 hitting. The Nittany Lions served for six aces in the set, including two from Holland. They also turned to their defense with seven blocks. Mruzik was in on four of those. Penn State never trailed after jumping out to a 6-0 lead with Grimes at the service line. Bilinovic provided a huge spark in the second set with six digs, including multiple highlight-worthy plays.
Set 3
The offense came alive for Penn State in the third set. The Nittany Lions hit .533, which was fueled by six kills on .500 hitting by Mruzik in the 25-19 win. Podraza put Western Kentucky on its heels with three kills on three attacks while also dishing out eight assists. Hannah and Holland also had three kills apiece. Penn State broke a 17-17 tie with a 6-0 run. Mruzik had two kills and a solo block during that stretch. Podraza eventually ended the set with a setter dump off a pass from Kuerschen.
Set 4
Penn State's offense kept rolling as it hit .407 in a convincing 25-18 win in the clinching set. Trammell had four kills on .500 hitting, while Mruzik hit .429 with four kills. Hannah recorded another three kills to give her six over the final two sets. It was the second set in which the Nittany Lions never trailed.
Career Highs
Jess Mruzik – solo blocks (3)
Up Next
The Nittany Lions continue play in the Penn State Invitational with a match against Colgate on Saturday at 2 p.m.
