MADISON, Wis. – No. 14 Penn State Women's Volleyball's 43rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament came to an end in the Regional Semifinal Thursday night with a 3-1 (25-11, 28-30, 25-12, 25-18) loss to No. 3 Wisconsin at the UW Field House.
The Nittany Lions closed the season with a 23-9 record. The Badgers improved to 29-3 and advanced to the Regional Final, where they will play the winner between Oregon and Purdue on Saturday.
Wisconsin racked up 17 blocks and held Penn State to .082 hitting. Caroline Crawford had 10 blocks, while Carter Booth tallied seven in addition to her 10 kills. Sarah Franklin led the attack with 15 kills.
Jess Mruzik led Penn State with 15 kills and added 14 digs to record her 11th double-double of the season. Mac Podraza tacked on her 13th double-double of the year with 38 assists and 13 digs. Zoe Weatherington joined Mruzik in double-digits with her 12 kills.
Gillian Grimes and Maddy Bilinovic turned in solid defensive efforts for the Nittany Lions. Grimes finished with 14 digs, while Bilinovic totaled nine.
Penn State is the only school to compete in all 43 NCAA Division I Tournaments. Additionally, the Nittany Lions have made it to at least the Regional Semifinal in 20 of the last 21 seasons.
Set 1
Carter Booth was a perfect 4-for-4 on her attacks and added three blocks as Wisconsin rolled to a 25-11 win in the opening set. The Badgers had four blocks as a team while holding Penn State to -.059 hitting.
Set 2
Penn State showed grit by responding with a 30-28 win in a thrilling second set. The Nittany Lions trailed by as much as four numerous times, including as late as 15-11. They took their first lead of the set at 19-18 after going on a 5-1 run that was capped by a solo block by Allie Holland that forced a Wisconsin timeout. Penn State led 23-21 before Wisconsin went on a 3-0 run to give it the first shot at set point. That one was denied with a kill by Mruzik, as was its second chance. Penn State's first three chance at set point were stopped by the Badgers. A Weatherington kill gave the Nittany Lions a 29-28 lead. Camryn Hannah then finished off the set with a kill. Mruzik hit .471 with eight kills in the set. Hannah and Weatherington had five and four kills, respectively.
Set 3
Five more blocks for Wisconsin and another negative hitting percentage for Penn State resulted in a 25-12 win for the Badgers in set three. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never trailed. Crawford had four blocks.
Set 4
Wisconsin tacked on six more blocks on its way to a 25-18 win in the final set. Crawford was in on five of them. Mruzik paced Penn State with five kills, while Podraza tallied five digs.