UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball stayed unbeaten in the Big Ten with a 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 25-16) win over Iowa in a Big Ten match Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions moved to 22-1 overall and 12-0 in the conference with their 14th-straight win, while the Hawkeyes dipped to 9-15, 3-9.
Camryn Hannah and Jess Mruzik led Penn State’s attack with 15 kills apiece. Hannah’s total came on .400 hitting as she helped the Nittany Lions hit .321 as a team. Maggie Mendelson hit .421 with 10 kills, while Taylor Trammell totaled nine kills on an impressive .750 hitting. Caroline Jurevicius contributed seven kills.
Penn State racked up nine blocks and held Iowa to .181 hitting. Trammell led the way with six, while Izzy Starck tallied four in addition to her 49 assists. Gillian Grimes was the team leader in digs with 16, giving her double-digits in 11 straight matches. Ava Falduto had 11 digs.
Grimes also contributed from the service line, matching her career high with four aces. Falduto, Mendelson, and Mruzik added one ace apiece.
Alyssa Worden had a big match for Iowa, tallying a career-high 10 kills and 14 digs. Michelle Urquhart finished with eight kills and 10 digs.
Penn State improved to 59-0 in the all-time series with Iowa.
Set 1
Mruzik had five kills and Mendelson tallied four on .667 hitting to lead Penn State to a 25-19 win in the opening set. Starck totaled 16 assists as the Nittany Lions hit .444. Grimes paced the defensive effort with seven digs. The Nittany Lions trailed 9-6 before going on a 4-0 run that included kills by Trammell, Mruzik, and Mendelson, and an ace by Grimes. Following an Iowa point, the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run that was capped by back-to-back kills by Mendelson. Penn State controlled the rest of the set as it led by as much as seven multiple times. Set point was scored on a block by Starck and Mendelson.
Set 2
Malu Garcia hit .545 with seven kills as Iowa tied the match with a 25-20 win in set two. The Hawkeyes used a 3-0 run to go up 10-6 and then pulled away more with another 3-0 run to go up 13-7. They still led by as much as six at 16-10 before Penn State battled back to get within one at 18-17. The Hawkeyes scored seven of the final 10 points to get the win, including a kill by Garcia for set point.
Set 3
Hannah hit .625 with five kills as Penn State took control with a 25-17 win in the third set. Starck had 13 assists while guiding the team to .333 hitting. The Nittany Lions took control early with a 5-0 run to go up 9-4. Three of the first four points of the run came on kills by Hannah. Mendelson capped the run with an ace. Iowa got within two at 14-12 only to see Penn State score seven straight points to go up 21-12. Grimes had a pair of aces during that stretch. Set point was eventually scored on a kill by Hannah.
Set 4
Five players had multiple kills, led by Trammell, Hannah, and Mruzik with three apiece, as Penn State clinched the win with a 25-16 victory in set four. The score was fairly close at 16-13 before the Nittany Lions pulled away with a 6-0 run to take a 22-13 advantage. Match point was later scored on a service error by Iowa.
Up Next
No. 3 Penn State goes on the road to play at Northwestern on Friday, Nov. 8, and at No. 7 Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 9.