Penn State women’s volleyball recently halted Oregon’s winning streak and continued its own by taking the next matchup dub over Maryland.
The Nittany Lions are hanging with Nebraska in Big 10 rankings. The two squads are tied at 4-0 in the top spot. There are six teams behind them that have a 3-1 record, including Washington, Michigan, Oregon, Perdue, University of Southern California, and Wisconsin.
Oregon, new to the Big 10 and holding its own, was, however, swept in three sets. The Terrapins had Penn State on its heels, but dropped the contest 3-1.
“We just flipped a switch,” Nittany Lion Taylor Trammell said about the Maryland matchup.
Three players on Maryland and Penn State’s squads collected double digit kills. Maryland’s early momentum seemed to be enough to frighten Penn State. The Terrapins won 25-22.
The Nittany Lions obviously didn’t like the spook, so they went on to win the next three sets. The second set shifted the tone.
Both sides of the net saw scoring runs. But, it was Penn State’s Jess Mruzik who hit back-to-back kills to lift the Nittany Lions to 24-16. The second set ended on Izzy Starck’s fifth block. The final score was 25-20 Penn State.
Maryland led the third set until Penn State tied it at points nine through 12. The Terrapins continued to extend their lead until a double block by Starck and Trammell tied the set at 20. The score flipped from Maryland’s favor to Penn State’s when Camryn Hannah and Trammel perfected two kills. The score was then 22-20. Hannah and Trammell, along with Mruzik, were the three who had double digit kills for Penn State.
Trammell also hit 500 career blocks as she earned eight total in the match.
A double block by Maryland’s Sydney Dowler and Eva Rohrbach made the set 24-23 – making it either squad’s win. The blue and white won set three 25-23 off of a service error by the Terrapin’s Samantha Schnitta.
Penn State dominated the fourth set while taking advantage of Maryland’s seemingly worn-out arms. Penn State took the lead and leveled the match with Mruzik’s 17th kill of the night, which made it 24-16. That was followed by a kill by Hannah that won the final set 25-16.
Despite the loss, Schnitta ended with 19 kills, while her teammates Sydney Bryant ended with 12 and Sam Csire ended with 11.
Penn State then went on to host Oregon at a Rec Hall classic, where an intense energy of fans repped white. In a sea of white, the Nittany Lions secured their ninth sweep on the season.
The first set was very close as their new conference opponent’s, Michelle Ohwobete and Mimi Colyer were stacking kills.
Penn State was up 19-11 until a kill by Colyer picked up some momentum for the Ducks. The set was at 24-19 until a kill from none other than Mruzik took the set for the Nittany Lions.
“I think that Jess is honestly the greatest player that I’ve ever played next to and you learn a lot from her, whether it be as a woman or as a player,” Caroline Jurevicius said about playing with Mruzik. “It’s really an honor to be on the court with her.”
Penn State took the early lead in the second set. Oregon was trying to steal the win as they made a comeback to make it 18-17, but the Nittany Lions were holding on. Penn State ended the second set 25-19 on a 4-0 scoring run with an error by the Ducks. The third set was dominated by the blue and white. They went up 24-17.
Ohwobete tried to keep the Ducks alive with 10 kills, 8 digs and 3 blocks on the night, but it wouldn’t be enough. Penn State won the set and the match from a kill by Mruzik making it 25-17.
“I think it’s hard to play at Rec Hall. You hear players that are in Big Ten interviews saying that this is one of the hardest places to play,” Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said about playing in Rec Hall, where the team in undefeated. “I think the energy is great. I think they’re loud.”
Penn State will now head to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans on Friday.
Kassie Vasellas is a Female Athlete News student-intern at Penn State University.
Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Follow us on our social media pages or reach us at [email protected] with a story idea.
Photo: Kassie Vasellas