BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball won its eighth-straight match Sunday, grinding out a hard-fought 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 30-28, 25-22) win over Indiana at Wilkinson Hall. The Nittany Lions return to Happy Valley at 16-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big Ten, while the Hoosiers dropped to 9-7 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
The Nittany Lions showed grit in getting a win at a tough venue. Indiana was a perfect 7-0 at Wilkinson Hall entering the match.
Penn State racked up 70 digs and 10 blocks while holding its opponent under .200 hitting for the 14th time in 17 matches this season. Gillian Grimes led all players with 19 digs, while Ava Falduto and Izzy Starck finished with 12 apiece. Maggie Mendelson spearheaded the defense at the net with six blocks.
Starck combined her dig total with her 53 assists over four sets to record her sixth double-double of the season. Jess Mruzik just missed a double-double as she led all players with 21 kills while adding nine digs. Her sixth dig of the match came late in the second set and was the 1,000th of her career.
Camryn Hannah wasn’t far behind Mruzik in kills as she totaled 17 in addition to seven digs. Mendelson also reached double-digits with 11 kills. Taylor Trammell and Caroline Jurevicius chipped in with seven and five kills, respectively.
Indiana hit just .195 but did receive a big match from Candela Alonso-Corcelles with 18 kills and nine digs.
Penn State improved to 62-1 in the all-time series with Indiana. The Nittany Lions moved to 4-0 in the series under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley.
Set 1
Penn State hit just .143 in the opening set as it fell 25-22. Alonso-Corcelles paced Indiana with four kills. The Nittany Lions scored back-to-back points to get within one at 23-22 and forced an Indiana timeout. The Hoosiers came out strong after the timeout, closing the set with a kill by Mady Saris and a solo block by Madi Sell.
Set 2
Mendelson had four kills and three blocks to lead Penn State to a 25-22 win in the second set. The Nittany Lions led by as much as five numerous times, including as late as 22-17 following a block by Trammell and Mruzik. Indiana battled back to get as close as two at 24-22, but Mruzik put an end to the comeback with a set-clinching kill.
Set 3
Hannah stepped up big in a thrilling third set, tallying seven kills in Penn State’s 32-30 win. The Nittany Lions staved off five Indiana chances at set point. The latest came at 29-28 before Mruzik tied it up with a kill. An Indiana attack error followed to give the Nittany Lions the advantage, but it was tied again at 30-30 after a service error. Trammell finally put an end to the marathon set with back-to-back kills, the first of which went straight down from the middle and reignited the team’s energy.
Set 4
Penn State battled back from a five-point deficit to close the match with a 25-22 win in set four. The comeback happened quickly as the Nittany Lions went on a 5-0 run to tie the score at 17-17. The run included a kill by Trammell and an ace by Mendelson. The teams then traded points until Penn State took its first lead of the set at 22-21 with a kill by Mruzik. That was the start of a 4-0 run that put the Nittany Lions up 24-21. Three of the four points came on Mruzik kills. It was Mendelson that went on to score match point with her 11th kill of the match.
Up Next
Penn State travels to play Ohio State on Friday at 8 p.m. The Nittany Lions then return to Happy Valley to host No. 14 Minnesota on Sunday at 2 p.m.