UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 14 Penn State Women's Volleyball avenged an earlier loss to Michigan State with a 3-1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-11, 25-18) win in Big Ten action Friday night at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions improved to 18-8 overall and 12-5 in the conference behind a tremendous effort from Jess Mruzik. The senior hit .484 with 19 kills and six digs, giving her double-digit kills for the 10th-straight match. The Spartans fell to 16-12 overall and 8-9 in the Big Ten.
Camryn Hannah and Zoe Weatherington joined Mruzik to give Penn State a trio of players with double-digit kills. Hannah had 11 on .321 hitting and added two aces. Weatherington finished with 10 kills and four blocks. Taylor Trammell also had a strong night offensively with eight kills on .500 hitting in addition to her defensive effort that included five blocks.
Mac Podraza led the team to .362 hitting with 44 assists and reached a huge individual milestone in the process. Her 42nd assist of the night, which came in the fourth set, was the 5,000th of her career. She moved closer to another milestone with her seven digs. She needs just 25 more to reach 1,000 for her career.
Maddy Bilinovic led Penn State in digs with 12. Gillian Grimes was right behind her with 11 and had three of the team's nine aces.
Freshman Taylah Holdem paced Michigan State with 10 kills and seven digs.
Set 1
The first set was as close as could be before Michigan State pulled out the 26-24 win. The set featured 15 ties and seven lead changes. The largest lead by either team came with Penn State up 10-7 after an ace by Grimes. The Nittany Lions led 24-23 after a service error by the Spartans. They then looked to have the set won with a kill by Trammell, but the point was given to the Spartans thanks to a throw call. Zuzanna Kulig followed with an ace, and Aliyah Moore then gave the set to Michigan State with a kill.
Set 2
Mruzik took over in the second set with five kills on .714 hitting to get Penn State the 25-16 win. Anjelina Starck was perfect on her two swings, while Podraza guided the attack to .414 hitting with 12 assists. Grimes had the set-clinching point with an ace.
Set 3
Penn State hit .696 behind 12 assists from Podraza on its way to a dominant 25-11 win in the third set. Hannah hit .833 with five kills, while Mruzik and Weatherington each had three kills on four swings. Allie Holland added two kills on three attacks. Podraza also had two kills, including the set-clinching point off an assist from Bilinovic.
Set 4
Mruzik finished strong with five kills on .375 hitting to help Penn State close out the match with a 25-18 win. Trammell had two kills on two swings. The Nittany Lions pulled away with a 4-0 run that put them up 13-8. They went on to lead by as much as nine at 21-12. The match-clinching point came on a kill by Weatherington.
Up Next
Penn State hosts Northwestern on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are 13-14 overall and 7-10 in the Big Ten following back-to-back wins over Iowa and Rutgers.
