UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 11 Penn State Women's Volleyball saw its 11-match home winning streak come to an end with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22) loss to No. 19 Purdue in a Big Ten match Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions dropped to 14-5 overall and 8-2 in the Big Ten. It was their first loss at Rec Hall since a 3-2 defeat to then-No. 3 Wisconsin on Nov. 19, 2022. The Boilermakers moved to 13-6 overall and 7-3 in the conference.
Jess Mruzik had a career-high 27 kills on .262 hitting for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions hit .185 as a team. They struggled to find the court with their attacks with 21 errors that didn't come on Purdue blocks.
Camryn Hannah also had a strong performance with the Nittany Lions, hitting .333 with 13 kills and two blocks. Mac Podraza recorded a double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs. Gillian Grimes had a team-high 16 digs to join Podraza in double-digits.
Freshman Chloe Chicoine carried the Purdue offense with 20 kills on .405 hitting. Maddie Schermerhorn led all players with 19 digs.
Set 1
Penn State started fast with a 25-18 win in set one in front of more than 3,000 fans at Rec Hall. Mruzik had seven kills, while Hannah had three on her six attacks. The Nittany Lions trailed 10-6 before going on a 6-0 run to go up 12-10. Mruzik had three kills during the run. They really pulled away using a 7-1 run that gave them a 19-12 lead. Mruzik added two more kills during that stretch. The Boilermakers only got as close as three (at 20-17) the rest of the way.
Set 2
Chicoine had seven kills on .429 hitting to lead Purdue to a 25-23 win in set two. The teams were tied 17-17 after a kill by Alexa Markley. The Boilermakers followed with a 3-0 run that was fueled by two Chicoine kills. Penn State got within one numerous times, including at 24-23 before Purdue closed the set with a kill by Eva Hudson.
Set 3
Another 25-23 win by Purdue was sparked by five kills on .667 hitting by Raven Colvin. The teams were again tied late after a block by Podraza and Allie Holland made it 22-22. Purdue scored the next two points on kills by Grace Heaney and Colvin. Hannah had a kill to stop the Boilermakers' first chance at set point, but Colvin and Heaney followed with a block.
Set 4
Three kills by Hannah and two by Mruzik helped Penn State jump out to a 6-2 lead in the first set, but Purdue went on to hit .485 to take a 25-22 match-clinching win. Chicoine hit .667 with six kills, while Hudson hit .429 with six kills.
Up Next
No. 11 Penn State goes on the road to play Michigan on Friday and Michigan State on Saturday.
