Hannah, Mruzik, Markley Lead Penn State Volleyball To UMBC Sweep

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball swept UMBC for its 700th win at Rec Hall in program history Friday night. Camryn Hannah, Jess Mruzik, and Alexa Markley led the Nittany Lions (5-3) to victory with double-digit kills, all hitting above .300 on a night when Penn State hit .351 as a team.

The Nittany Lions out-blocked the Retrievers 10-5 thanks to impressive outings in that category from Allie Holland (match-high six total blocks), Taylor Trammell (four), and Hannah (four). Holland finished with five kills and one of Penn State’s four service aces. Markley had one ace and Mruzik had a match-high two.

Hannah tied her season high with 12 kills, a mark she equaled in a sweep of Colgate on September 2 at Rec Hall, hitting .381 for the Nittany Lions. She reached 1,000 career kills on her first of the night. Mruzik had 12 kills, six digs, an assist, and hit .333, while Markley had a season-high 10 kills and hit .308. She added two total blocks and a dig.

Box Score

Mac Podraza was dangerous all over the court Friday night, tallying a match-high 35 assists, seven digs, four kills, and two total blocks in the win, which only took 1:19. UMBC hit .158, including .037 in the third set, and sided out only 50.7 percent of the time. Kamani Conteh led the Retrievers (5-4) with 10 kills. Penn State hit above .300 all three sets, posting a .364 clip in the first set, .371 in the second, and .310 in the third.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley and her staff went with a starting lineup of Podraza, Mruzik, Holland, Trammell (three kills, two digs), Hannah, Anjelina Starck (six digs, one assist), and libero Gill Grimes, who had six digs and five assists. Markley and junior defensive specialist Cassie Kuerschen were the only substitutes of the match for Penn State. Kuerschen led the Nittany Lions with 11 digs and an assist. UMBC’s Hannah Howard had a match-high 13 digs.

Mruzik surpassed 100 kills on the season in the win and now sits at 108 — 58 more than Hannah, who’s in second place on the team with 50 after starting to heat up offensively the last few matches. Hannah made her first start of the season in a road sweep of Temple last Friday at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.

Holland leads the team with 10 aces through eight matches. Trammell is off to an extremely efficient start to the season, hitting .343 so far. Grimes is pacing Penn State’s defense with 77 digs, while Maddy Bilinovic, who did not play against the Retrievers, sits at 61. Zoe Weatherington also did not check into the match Friday. Holland and Trammell have 40 and 37 total blocks.

The Nittany Lions return to Rec Hall Saturday at 4 p.m. when they host Seton Hall in their second and final match of the Penn State Classic. The Pirates (6-3) are coming off a sweep of Stonehill Saturday in Hanover, New Hampshire. Seton Hall will play UMBC Sunday at 1 p.m. in the only match scheduled for that day at Rec Hall.

Schumacher-Cawley, Podraza, Hannah, and Markley took to the podium in Penn State’s media room following the win to answer questions about the sweep, Hannah’s milestone night, what Podraza likes about setting Hannah and Markley, and more. The transcript of questions and answers can be found below.

Schumacher-Cawley’s opening statement:

“It was a great team effort. I’m happy with the way we served. I think everyone did their job tonight and worked hard.”

What do you think were some of the keys to victory tonight?

KSC: “I thought we passed well. I thought Mac moved the ball around. We had quite a few people score tonight, and that’s what we need to do.”

What are your thoughts on Alexa and Cam’s performance tonight?

KSC: “They take big swings. We’ve been working on that in practice. I push them every day to get better at that and to find ways to score. I’m happy with the way they both played and got some touches at the net blocking. We’ll keep working.”

How does it feel to reach 1,000 kills?

Hannah: “I knew that question was coming. I’m proud of it, obviously, and it’s exciting. It’s more exciting to do it here, but we still have work to do.”

KSC: “I’m happy it’s here.”

The team hit above .300 every set. What do you think was behind that?

KSC: “We passed. We passed well. And like I said, I think Mac moved the ball around and was finding everyone available. When we pass well, we can find ways to score.”

Alexa, what were some things that you think the team did well tonight?

Markley: “This whole week, we’ve been really working on improving our serve-and-pass game. I thought that was something that we did really well today, our passing, and we served very aggressively.”

What are some things that you think you’ve improved from freshman to sophomore year?

Markley: “That’s a good question. I think, for sure, being aggressive and being confident, taking big swings, communicating. I feel, as a freshman, you don’t talk as much, so moving into sophomore year, talking more.”

Podraza: “I’m going to speak to what she’s improved on, because, I think, from summer when we got here, we were like, ‘Alexa, hit high hands, hit high hands, hit high hands, hit high hands.’ And we beat it until we couldn’t say it anymore. Now, it’s not something that we have to say because she doesn’t know it, we’re just saying it to remind her. I think she’s improved on her shot selection immensely, and it’s fun to watch.”

Mac, what’s your favorite thing about setting these two?

Podraza: “They’re up there. They’re high. I think I underestimate Cam’s speed and her height. I like that I can trust that they’re just going to be up there and go take big swings.”

Cam, how important is Jess [Mruzik’s] consistency for the team?

Hannah: “She’s a big player for us. She’s great. It’s good for her to be consistent, but we don’t force that on her every night. We’re all human. She knows that we have her back, always.”

How would you assess the play of your defensive specialists tonight?

KSC: “I thought they were flying around, digging balls. I thought Anje [Starck] came in and passed well, and, defensively, knew what was going on. Cassie [Kuerschen], Gill [Grimes]. I thought they made some big plays.”

Cam, what’s your message to the team heading into tomorrow against Seton Hall?

Hannah: “Same thing tomorrow. That’s all I have to say.”