COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Camryn Hannah hit .500 with 17 kills and six digs to lead No. 4 Penn State Women’s Volleyball to a 3-1 win over Maryland on Sunday at XFINITY Center Pavilion. The Nittany Lions racked up nine aces as they improved to 25-2 overall and 15-1 in the Big Ten.
Hannah paced a group of four Penn State players with double-digit kills. Jess Mruzik hit .325 with 15 kills and added 15 digs to record her eighth double-double of the season. Maggie Mendelson hit .389 with 11 kills and five blocks, while Caroline Jurevicius finished just one off her career high with 10 kills.
Izzy Starck engineered a second-straight balanced attack by the Nittany Lions, totaling 49 assists to lead the team to .362 hitting. She also led the team with 17 digs as she put together her 11th double-double of the season.
Just one match after piling up nine aces in a sweep over Illinois, Penn State topped that with 10 aces in the four-set win over Maryland. Quinn Menger led the way with three aces, giving her seven over the two wins this week. Mruzik, Starck, and Gillian Grimes each had two aces, while Ava Falduto chipped in with one.
Samantha Schnitta was the top player for Maryland, finishing with a team-high 12 kills. The national leader in total aces and aces/set added three to her total in a losing effort.
Set 1
Hannah dominated set one with seven kills on .778 hitting to lead Penn State to an easy 25-13 win. Starck tallied 12 assists as the Nittany Lions hit .483 as a team. It was just a three-point lead at 13-10, but Penn State scored 12 of the final 15 points in the set. Three of the Nittany Lions’ final four points came on kills by Hannah.
Set 2
Lilly Gunter had seven digs as Maryland slowed down Penn State’s attack in set two, holding the Nittany Lions to .167 hitting while tying the match with a 25-22 win. The Terrapins broke a 22-22 tie and closed the set with a 3-0 run. The final two points came on kills by Schnitta and Katie Scherer.
Set 3
Mruzik hit .600 with six kills and Penn State served up five aces in a 25-13 win in the third set. Menger contributed two of the aces, while Falduto, Grimes, and Starck chipped in with one apiece. Menger’s two aces helped close out the set. The first put the Nittany Lions up 23-13, while the second secured set point.
Set 4
Penn State hit .565 behind 13 assists from Starck as it closed the match with a 25-15 win in set four. Mendelson had four kills, Hannah was perfect on her three swings, and Mruzik and Jurevicius also tallied three kills apiece. The Nittany Lions tacked on three more aces, which came from Grimes, Starck, and Menger. Penn State used a 5-0 run to go up 10-7 and held a comfortable lead the rest of the way. The Nittany Lions’ final two points were each scored on kills by Mruzik.
Career Highs
Jocelyn Nathan – digs (4)
Up Next
No. 4 Penn State hosts No. 8 Purdue in a key Big Ten matchup Thursday at Rec Hall. The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will air live on B1G Network with Jason Knapp and Audrey Flaugh on the call. The Boilermakers are 22-5 overall and 13-3 in the conference following six straight wins over Maryland, Rutgers, Indiana, Michigan, Rutgers again, and Illinois.