No. 4 Women's Volleyball Sweeps No. 10 Purdue in B1G Opener

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – No. 4 Penn State Women’s Volleyball opened Big Ten play with a statement win Wednesday night, going on the road to sweep No. 10 Purdue 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-20) at Holloway Gymnasium.

The Nittany Lions improved to 11-1 overall, while the Boilermakers dropped to 9-3. All three of their losses came to opponents ranked in the top 10 at the time of the match.

Penn State was dominant from start to finish on its way to the first sweep in the series by either team since 2016. The Nittany Lions hit .369 behind 38 assists from freshman setter Izzy Starck. The team’s outside hitters did a large chunk of the damage with Camryn Hannah hitting .393 with 14 kills and Jess Mruzik hitting .267 with 13 kills. Taylor Trammell, Caroline Jurevicius, and Maggie Mendelson chipped in with six kills apiece.

Penn State held Purdue to .176 hitting. It was the fourth time this season the Nittany Lions held a nationally-ranked opponent under the .200 mark. Izzy Starck led the team with 13 digs to record her fourth double-double of the season. Mruzik had nine digs, while Gillian Grimes and Ava Falduto tallied eight apiece. Mruzik spearheaded the defensive effort at the net with three solo blocks.

The Nittany Lions trailed just one time in the entire match when Purdue went up 1-0 in the second set. An ace by Grimes helped Penn State go on a 3-0 run and it never relinquished the lead.

Chloe Chicoine was the top Purdue player statistically with a double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs.

Set 1
Starck tallied 16 assists and Penn State hit .643 in an easy 25-14 win in set one. Hannah was nearly perfect with seven kills on .875 hitting. Jurevicius was perfect with three kills on her three attacks. The Nittany Lions forced an early Purdue timeout with a 7-2 start and then added another point out of the timeout with a kill by Mendelson to make it 8-2. They went on to lead by as much as 14 at 22-8 following kills by Mendelson and Hannah. Set point came on a kill by Hannah.

Set 2
Penn State’s efficiency cooled off a little in set two, but it still came through with a 25-21 win behind six kills from Mruzik. The Nittany Lions led by as much as eight numerous times during the set, including as late as 19-11 after a Purdue service error. The Boilermakers battle back late to get within three at 24-21, but Starck found Mruzik for kill and set point.

Set 3
Mruzik turned to her defense to help Penn State get a 25-20 win in the final set, piling up three solo blocks in addition to her three digs and three kills. Hannah and Mendelson added three kills apiece. This was the hardest fought set of the night as Penn State led by just one at 18-17 and still just two at 21-19. The Nittany Lions then went on a 3-0 run that started with kills by Trammell and Mruzik. Match point was later scored on a kill by Hannah.

Up Next
Penn State returns to action when it hosts Michigan State for a Big Ten match Sunday. The match is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Rec Hall.