Katie Schumacher-Cawley named Penn State volleyball’s captains for the 2024 season during her first weekly media availability of the year Tuesday afternoon before practice at Rec Hall.
“We have three captains: Jess Mruzik, Quinn Menger, and Anjelina Starck,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “I’m excited. Three seniors, and all have unique leadership skills and are great people. I’m really proud of them.”
Schumacher-Cawley didn’t formally name a captain during her first season as head coach of the Nittany Lions in 2022. She selected Mac Podraza and Allie Holland to hold that title in 2023. Mruzik is entering her second season at Penn State following an impressive debut in blue and white last fall, while Menger and the elder Starck sister are the final two members of Penn State’s 2021 recruiting class still on the roster.
“The seniors went to back-to-back Sweet 16s and lost, and I think it’s been a goal of theirs to be better than that and to have a better Big Ten season,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “I think they took some real ownership over the summer in team workouts and just kind of helping the new kids along.”
Mruzik led Penn State in points and kills last season with 583.5 and 519, respectively, good for third place in program history in a single season in the modern scoring era (since 2008). Mruzik won a silver medal in her senior-level U.S. women’s national team debut in June at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six in the Dominican Republic.
Following a AVCA second-team All-American campaign and unanimous preseason All-Big Ten nod, Mruzik was ranked as the No. 5 returning player in the conference, according to Big Ten Network’s Emily Ehman. Having Mruzik and Camryn Hannah as reliable weapons on the pins will certainly help freshman setter Izzy Starck’s adjustment to the college game.
Menger, Penn State’s backup setter and a left-handed serving specialist, is widely respected as one of the strongest leaders on the team heading into her final season. Her vocal nature and volleyball IQ, coupled with her selfless commitment to doing whatever is asked of her by the coaching staff, makes Menger a key component of the roster.
Anjelina Starck, or Anj, as her teammates affectionately call her, is one of the more versatile players on this year’s team given her excellent passing skills and ability to provide veteran depth at outside hitter. Starck has 506 digs and 287 kills so far and could be in store for an uptick in offensive production now that her sister, who knows her game better than anyone, is running the offense.