UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Women’s Volleyball picked up two awards from the Big Ten on Monday after opening conference play with wins over No. 10 Purdue and Michigan State last week. Jess Mruzik was voted the Player of the Week, while Izzy Starck was named the Setter of the Week.
Mruzik is the Big Ten Player of the Week for the first time this season and the fourth time in her career. She hit .326 with an incredible 6.00 kills/set while adding 2.71 digs/set in Penn State's wins over Purdue and Michigan State. The outside hitter led the attack in a dominant road sweep over the Boilermakers with 13 kills in addition to her nine digs. She then put the team on her back in a four-set win over the Spartans, hitting .356 with 29 kills. She finished off her first double-double of the season with 10 digs.
Mruzik’s 29 kills against the Spartans were the most ever by a Penn State player in a four-set match during the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) and the most in any match since Jonni Parker had 29 in a five-set win over Minnesota in 2018.
Starck earned her first Big Ten Setter of the Week award, adding it to the three Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades she won this season. She averaged 13.29 assists/set while leading the Nittany Lions to .296 hitting over the two wins. Her 38 assists helped the team hit .369 in the sweep of Purdue, which also saw her tally 13 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She followed that with a career-high 55 assists in the four-set victory over Michigan State, which propelled the freshman to the top of the Big Ten leaderboard with 11.09 assists/set for the season.
Penn State jumped one spot to No. 3 in Monday’s AVCA Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions host Maryland on Thursday at 6 p.m., and then No. 11 Oregon on Friday at 7 p.m. Both matches will air live on B1G Network.