LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 14 Penn State Women's Volleyball fought off a Yale team with its eyes on an upset Thursday night at Kansas's Horesji Family Arena, beating the Bulldogs 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16) in the NCAA Tournament First Round.
Penn State improved to 22-8 on the season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round, where it will take on host Kansas on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Nittany Lions are now 25-0 in the opening round of the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1998.
The turning point of the win came in the third set as Penn State fought back from an early 7-0 deficit to get the 25-22 win to avoid going down 2-1 in the match.
Jess Mruzik powered the Nittany Lions' attack with 19 kills on .486 hitting and added six digs. The Nittany Lions hit .373 as a team, including .550 in the first set and .520 in the fourth set, behind 42 assists from Mac Podraza. The setter tacked on 10 digs to record her third-straight double-double and 12th of the season. She also had three of the team's eight aces.
Taylor Trammell provided an offensive spark in the middle for Penn State with eight kills on .538 hitting. Allie Holland was strong defensively in the middle, joining Zoe Weatherington with a team-high five blocks. Weatherington added seven kills on .385 hitting.
Gillian Grimes did her part with a team-high 15 digs. Maddy Bilinovic contributed eight.
Yale, which is coached by former Penn State assistant Erin Appleman, closed a great season at 21-4 overall. The Bulldogs were paced by Gigi Barr with 10 kills on .333 hitting. Audrey Leak finished with a team-high 15 kills.
Penn State improved to 11-0 in the all-time series with Yale.
Set 1
Holland was perfect on the attack with four kills on four swings and added three blocks to lead Penn State to a 25-17 win in the opening set. Mac Podraza dished out 10 assists while leading the Nittany Lions to .550 hitting. Mruzik had four kills, while Weatherington and Camryn Hannah chipped in with two apiece. Penn State never trailed in the set.
Set 2
Yale took the second set 25-23 after going up 8-4 with 4-0 run and 12-6 after a 3-0 run. Penn State battled back to get within one as late as 21-20 after a kill by Trammell, but the Bulldogs responded with a 3-0 run. The Nittany Lions stopped the first three attempts at set point with a service error, a block by Weatherington and Holland, and a kill by Hannah. Yale finished the set with a kill by Audrey Leak.
Set 3
Yale dominated early in set three with a 7-0 run to start, but Penn State clawed its way back to get the 25-22 win. The Nittany Lions still trailed by four at 18-14 before going on a 3-0 run with three-straight kills by Mruzik. They took their first lead of the set at 21-20 with an ace by Podraza. Yale tied the match at 21-all and 22-all. The Nittany Lions closed the set with a 3-0 run that was capped by an ace from Bilinovic and a kill by Holland.
Set 4
Penn State gave Yale no hope of the upset with a 25-16 win in the final set. Mruzik carried the load with eight kills and no errors on 10 attacks. Podraza had 13 assists as the team hit .520. Trammell was perfect with four kills on four swings.
Up Next
No. 14 Penn State plays at No. 15 Kansas in the NCAA Second Round on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The match will stream on ESPN+.