UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 19 Penn State Women's Volleyball treated a crowd of more than 5,000 fans to an upset Saturday night, knocking off No. 2 Wisconsin 3-1 (23-25, 29-27, 25-23, 25-18) in a Big Ten match at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions improved to 17-8 overall and 11-5 in the conference. They recorded their highest-ranked win since beating No. 1 Stanford 3-1 in 2017.
Wisconsin saw its record dip to 23-2 overall and 14-2 in the Big Ten. The Badgers had lost just four sets total in their first 15 conference matches this season.
Camryn Hannah provided the spark on the outside for Penn State, hitting .375 with 19 kills, while Taylor Trammell was successful in the middle with nine kills on .571 hitting in addition to her four blocks. Jess Mruzik tallied 16 kills, Zoe Weatherington finished with 10, and Allie Holland chipped in with seven to go along with her five blocks.
Jess Mruzik racked up a team-high 16 digs to give her nine double-doubles on the season. Mac Podraza also registered her ninth double-double with her 51 assists, 13 digs, and four blocks. Joining them with double-digit digs were Gillian Grimes with 14 and Maddy Bilinovic with 10. Anjelina Starck added eight digs. Grimes and Bilinovic also had two aces apiece.
Sarah Franklin did a little bit of everything for Wisconsin, finishing with 19 kills, 12 digs, and three blocks. Carter Booth, daughter of former Penn State basketball star Calvin Booth, was in on seven of the team's 11 blocks.
Penn State snapped a four-match losing streak to Wisconsin as it improved to 50-14 in the all-time series.
Set 1
A rollercoaster first set ended in a 25-23 win for Wisconsin. Penn State trailed 19-15 before going on a 7-1 run to go up 22-20. The Badgers clawed back to get the win with the final three points of the set. Franklin had a kill to tie it at 23-23 and then another to finish it at 25-23. She led her team with four kills. Hannah had four kills on six swings for the Nittany Lions.
Set 2
Penn State avoided disaster in the second set, nearly blowing a 24-18 lead before coming out on top 29-27. Wisconsin avoided nine chances at set point. It was Hannah that came through with a clutch kill to make it 28-27, and the Badgers followed with an attack error that finished the set and tied the match. Hannah hit .333 with seven kills, while Grimes led the defense with six of the team's 22 digs.
Set 3
Yet another set went down to the wire and it was Penn State again coming out on top at 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Kills by Caroline Crawford and Franklin for Wisconsin tied the score at 23-23. A service error by the Badgers gave the Nittany Lions a chance at set point and they delivered with a kill by Mruzik. Penn State overcame nine kills by Franklin with a balanced attack on the other side. Trammell tallied four kills, while Hannah and Mruzik had three apiece.
Set 4
Penn State rolled to a 25-18 win in set four to clinch the match. It was close early with the Nittany Lions taking a 12-10 lead. They used a 3-0 run to go up five at 15-10 and eventually led by as much as seven at 20-13. The final two points of the match were scored on a kill by Weatherington and an ace by Grimes.
Up Next
Penn State is back at Rec Hall for its next two matches as it hosts Michigan State on Friday at 7 p.m., and Northwestern on Saturday at 7 p.m.
