Hannah, Markley Lead Penn State Volleyball To Illinois Road Sweep

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball secured its third consecutive sweep to begin conference play Friday night at Huff Hall, beating Illinois thanks in large part to impressive showings from Camryn Hannah and Alexa Markley.

Hannah had a match-high 12 kills in Champaign, while Alexa Markley had 11 and hit .375 in the win, which saw the Nittany Lions (9-3, 3-0 Big Ten) hit .246 to the Fighting Illini’s .120. Penn State struggled at the service line with only one ace and six errors. Both teams had exactly 45 digs and 10 total blocks.

Box Score

Penn State jumped out to an early lead in the first set, but Illinois fought back to tie it at 10-10. The Nittany Lions promptly went on a 9-2 run to take control of the set before the Fighting Illini went on a 6-2 run to make it 21-18 Penn State. Three straight kills from Hannah and one from Mruzik gave the Nittany Lions the first set and set the tone for the night.

Although Hannah later had a few attack errors in the third set, she has been on an absolute tear offensively for the Nittany Lions of late, recording double-digit kills in four of her last five matches. The lone contest without was a nine-kill outing in Penn State’s 3-1 win over Seton Hall on September 16 at Rec Hall. Hannah sits at 97 kills so far this season, good for second on the team behind Mruzik’s 174.

After being named Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season and third time of her career, Mruzik posted her third double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs, matching sophomore libero Gill Grimes’ team-high 11. Markley, who had two total blocks and two digs, was one of four substitutes for the Nittany Lions Friday night. Cassie Kuerschen (six digs, one assist), Maddy Bilinovic (two digs, one assist), and Quinn Menger were the others.

Penn State’s middle blockers, Taylor Trammell and Allie Holland, combined for 11 kills and nine total blocks in the win. Holland had Penn State’s lone service ace of the match and led the Nittany Lions with five total blocks. Trammell hit .333 against Illinois, while Holland hit .211.

Mac Podraza had a match-high 32 assists, nine digs, four kills, and four total blocks in a strong all-around performance for the Sunbury, Ohio, native. Penn State’s defense held Illinois star Raina Terry to seven kills and a .000 hitting percentage.

The Nittany Lions have a big test coming up Saturday at 9 p.m. ET when they face No. 13 Minnesota (6-5, 2-1 Big Ten) at Maturi Pavilion in another televised match on Big Ten Network. The Golden Gophers swept Michigan at home Friday night after being swept by No. 2 Nebraska on Sunday in Lincoln.

Penn State is currently out-blocking its opponents 123-87 and has begun to find some offensive weapons behind Mruzik in Hannah and Markley, who have excellent vertical leaps and are visibly gaining confidence as the season progresses. Their connection with Podraza has continued to improve and is looking fairly crisp three matches into conference play.