CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 15 Penn State Women's Volleyball rolled to its third consecutive Big Ten sweep with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-20) win over Illinois on Friday evening at Huff Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 9-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference, while the Illini fell to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Alexa Markley put together her best performance of the season for Penn State, hitting .375 with 11 kills. The sophomore found her groove in the final two sets, totaling eight kills on .438 hitting.
Markley has found success against Illinois during her career. She is now hitting .350 while averaging 3.5 kills/set over three matches against the Illini.
Camryn Hannah led all players with 12 kills, giving her double-digit kills in three straight matches. She did most of her damage over the first two sets, totaling 10 kills on .600 hitting during that stretch.
Joining Markley and Hannah with double-digit kills was Jess Mruzik with 10. She added 11 digs to record her third double-double of the season. Setter Mac Podraza just missed giving the Nittany Lions two double-doubles as she finished with 32 assists, nine digs, and four blocks.
Penn State, the Big Ten leader in blocks/set entering the match, added 10 more in the win over Illinois. Allie Holland was in on five of those blocks, while Taylor Trammell was right behind her with four. The back row defensive effort was paced by Gillian Grimes with 11 digs.
Set 1
Penn State never trailed in the opening set on its way to a 25-22 win. The Nittany Lions took control with a 5-0 run that put them up 16-11. Holland had one kill and one block during that stretch. With Penn State leading 24-20, Illinois fought off the first two chances at set point. Mruzik made the third chance count with a set-clinching kill off a set from Podraza. Hannah had five kills and didn't commit an error on her seven swings in the set.
Set 2
The second set played out similar to the first with Penn State again never trailing and pulling away midway through the set. The Nittany Lions broke a 9-9 with a 4-0 run that was sparked by two kills from Trammell. Illinois got as close as two at 19-17, but Penn State went back up four on kills by Hannah and Markley. Hannah eventually ended the set with a kill. She had five on .500 hitting in the set.
Set 3
Markley had four kills and no errors on six swings to help Penn State finish off the sweep with a 25-20 win in set three. The Nittany Lions found themselves behind for the first time all match as Illinois jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead. It didn't last long. Penn State went up 7-6 on a block by Trammell and Podraza and then again at 8-7 on a kill by Trammell. The Nittany Lions went on to up their lead to as high as six at 18-12. The match was eventually clinched on a solo block by Mruzik.
Up Next
No. 15 Penn State makes the trip to Minneapolis to take on No. 13 Minnesota on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET. The match will air on B1G Network.