Penn State claimed its 8th NCAA D1 Women’s Volleyball National Championship with a 3-1 (25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17) win over Louisville in the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship at the KFC Yum! Center.
This was a storybook season — that’s a cliche we’d normally want to avoid, but it’s too true to deny. Underdogs nearly every step of the way, this team, with their coach battling breast cancer, fought their way to a National Title, the eighth in Penn State’s history, making Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley the first female head coach to win an NCAA D1 Women’s Volleyball National Championship. The Nittany Lions close the season at 35-2.
A few thoughts:
This was the 44th NCAA D1 Women’s National Championship Final. Out of the 88 head coaches in those matches, there have been 83 men, and 5 women. And a woman finally won. As Katie George, one of the announcers, put it: “It’s about damn time!”
The Penn State players wore their “Seven Star” jerseys — with seven stars on the back signifying the seven National Titles won by Penn State before today. Although we don’t think you’ll find anyone at Penn State who is complaining, they’ll have to buy all new jerseys (with eight stars).
Of the seven players on the All Tournament Team, three were Penn Staters (including Most Outstanding Player Jess Mruzik):
Post-Match Press Conference
Complete match stats are below the match photos and match videos.
Championship Match Videos
Pictures sometimes do say it all (Photos by Ethan Kasales):
More Match Photos by Ethan Kasales
Box Score
Match Details
Louisville
Penn St.
Set
K
E
TA
%
K
E
TA
%
1
15
4
39
0.282
16
4
43
0.279
2
18
9
52
0.173
18
7
52
0.212
3
9
4
35
0.143
19
7
40
0.300
4
11
4
37
0.189
19
5
42
0.333
Total
53
21
163
0.196
72
23
177
0.277
Louisville
Penn St.
Points
69
90
Kills
53
72
Aces
4
7
Blocks
12
11
Assists
50
69
Digs
64
78
Match Leaders
Louisville – Leaders
Kills
Charitie Luper (21), Sofia Maldonado Diaz (20), Payton Petersen (4), Cara Cresse (4)
Aces
Payton Petersen (3), Nayelis Cabello (1)
Blocks
Cara Cresse (7), Sofia Maldonado Diaz (5), Hannah Sherman (4)
Assists
Nayelis Cabello (31), Elle Glock (11), Elena Scott (7)
Digs
Elena Scott (24), Payton Petersen (10), Nayelis Cabello (10)
