UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball used a balanced attack as it stayed unbeaten with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-15) sweep over visiting Duke in a non-conference match Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions upped their record to 6-0, while the Blue Devils dropped to 4-4.
Penn State hit .482 as a team with five players totaling seven or more kills apiece. Camryn Hannah and Jess Mruzik led the way with 10 kills each. Hannah hit .444 and added a pair of blocks, while Mruzik hit .348 and added eight digs, one ace, and two blocks.
The Nittany Lions were again strong in the middle with Maggie Mendelson hitting .667 with nine kills and Taylor Trammell hitting .583 with seven kills. Caroline Jurevicius provided production from the right side with seven kills on .500 hitting. Setter Izzy Starck did her part with 34 assists.
Penn State continued to show its improvement from the service line with nine more aces, including a team-high four from Ava Falduto. The freshman has nine aces over the past three matches. Gillian Grimes had two aces to extend her streak of six straight matches with at least one ace. Mendelson, Mruzik, and Anjelina Starck contributed one apiece.
Grimes helped hold Duke to .132 with her team-high 11 digs. Falduto and Anjelina Starck added eight apiece.
Mailinh Godschall was busy for Duke with 13 digs. She also had two of the team’s three aces. Rachel Richardson paced the Blue Devils’ attack with eight kills.
Penn State improved to 11-0 in the all-time series with Duke. It was the first meeting between the teams since the Nittany Lions’ win over the Blue Devils at Rec Hall in the 2010 NCAA Regional Final.
Set 1
Penn State hit .407 and served for five aces on its way to an easy 25-9 win in the opening set. Mruzik led the attack with four kills, while Falduto was the star at the service line with three aces.
Set 2
Six Penn State players combined for the team’s 17 kills in a 25-15 win in set two. Mruzik and Hannah each had four kills, while Mendelson and Trammell were right behind them with three apiece. The Nittany Lions started to pull away early with a 4-0 run to go up 7-2. They later closed the set with a 5-0 run. Trammell and Jurevicius traded kills for the final four points.
Set 3
Penn State racked up another 17 kills on .593 hitting as it clinched the match with a 25-15 win in set three. Mendelson was perfect with four kills on her four swings. Trammell also had four kills and needed just five attacks. Starck dished out 10 assists.
Career Highs
Ava Falduto – aces (4)
Up Next
The Nittany Lions wrap up play in the Penn State Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday. They play Princeton at 10:30 a.m., and then take on St. John’s at 6:30 p.m.