Mruzik, Hannah Tally 19 Kills Apiece In Penn State Volleyball’s 3-1 Win Over Tennessee

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 7 Penn State women’s volleyball won its season opener 3-1 over No. 15 Tennessee Friday night in front of a program-record crowd of 6,193 in Knoxville.

Izzy Starck had a double-double in her collegiate debut with 42 assists and 12 digs in the win, guiding Penn State’s offense to a .343 hitting percentage, including .455 in the third set and .419 in the fourth. Starck spread the ball around nicely, but she connected with Camryn Hannah and Jess Mruzik especially well, as they each had 19 kills and were efficient.

Box Score

Despite giving up an 8-3 run late in the first set and eventually dropping the opening frame, the Nittany Lions (1-0) regrouped quickly and performed much better the rest of the night, particularly in the passing game, where libero Gill Grimes, freshman Ava Falduto, and senior captain Anjelina Starck all showed off some of their special qualities.

The Starck sisters were both part of the starting lineup Friday night, as Hannah, Falduto, and Quinn Menger were Penn State’s only subs. Penn State volleyball alumna and Knoxville native Cassie Kuerschen, who’s preparing for dental school, was on hand to watch her former teammates secure the win.

Grimes led Penn State’s defense with 13 digs and had two of the team’s three aces on a night where the Nittany Lions struggled at times to keep their serves in play. They finished with 13 service errors, but didn’t surrender a single ace to the Lady Volunteers, who hit only .188. Penn State narrowly out-blocked Tennessee, 9-7, thanks in large part to a combined seven total blocks from Maggie Mendelson and Caroline Jurevicius.

Jurevicius and Mendelson added seven and six kills, respectively, and showed some promising glimpses of why Penn State’s coaching staff was so keen to add them to the roster this offseason. It was a difficult environment to play in and there are certainly some things that the Nittany Lions can clean up offensively, but as Izzy Starck becomes more comfortable running the show, it’s likely Jurevicius and Mendelson will be significant beneficiaries.

Jurevicius hit a couple balls incredibly hard against Tennessee and Mendelson has the potential to be one of the better two-way middle blockers in the Big Ten given her agility and physicality at 6-foot-5. Taylor Trammell played with nice speed in transition and added five kills of her own after starting at middle blocker alongside Mendelson.

Starck showed plenty of encouraging signs in her first Penn State match, making several exciting, off-balance assists look routine. Her strong court vision and ability to put up hittable balls from some absurd angles are two of her immediately recognizable traits. Starck is the first true freshman starting setter for the Nittany Lions since Micha Hancock in 2011.

DigNittanyVolleyball spoke to Starck, Mruzik, and Katie Schumacher-Cawley for exclusive interviews after the match. They discussed how Penn State was able to turn things around after the first set and what led to such a strong offensive outing against the Lady Vols. The win also marked Schumacher-Cawley’s 50th as head coach of the Nittany Lions. The transcripts of our conversations can be found below.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley

What do you think were some of the keys to victory tonight, especially bouncing back after that first set?

“I thought we played great as a team. I thought everyone contributed to the success. It was a great team win.”

What impressed you about Izzy and Ava tonight?

“I think they play hard. I thought they settled in after the first set. I think they’re great players and they’re going to continue to get better.”

What stood out about Jess and Cam offensively?

“I think Jess and Cam both worked really hard this spring in finding different ways to score. I thought they did an excellent job of doing that and putting themselves in great positions.”

You guys hit over .400 in the third and fourth sets. What do you think was working well offensively?

“I think our passing was great. I thought Gill passed well, Anj passed well. Ava was passing. When we pass well, Izzy can move the ball around and score.”

What stood out about Maggie tonight in her Penn State debut?

“I think Maggie works hard. Maggie finds ways defensively to get touches. I think she’s a fun player to watch.”

How important will it be to clean up the serving a little bit moving forward?

“I thought we were serving aggressively. This is a big arena to play in. I liked how we were serving. I thought we missed at not great times, but I liked how we were aggressive.”

What are some things you want to see from your team moving forward heading into Sunday’s Temple match?

“I think starting a little bit quicker and being comfortable. We have to get some rest tonight and head to Philly, get a good practice in there, and be focused to go on Sunday.”

How pleased were you with how your team handled this environment tonight?

“I thought it was a great environment. I think that’s a very good Tennessee team that will be much better by the end of the season.”

Jess Mruzik

What do you think were some of the keys to turning things around after the first set?

“We knew that the first set, or at least the first half of that first set, was going to be ugly. We just kind of got that through our brains early that we were going to have to work some stuff out. That was our first time actually playing together, so we knew that, at the end of the day, we were just going to have to be the ‘better ugly.’ We started playing loose, we started playing with confidence, and that’s when the weird plays that shouldn’t go your way, go your way. We were the better ugly at the end of the day. They played a great match, but I thought that we passed and I thought we were very organized defensively, blocking-wise, and it was just all flowing.”

You guys hit .400-plus in the third and fourth sets. What was working well offensively?

“Yeah, obviously, Izzy is brand new, but she’s been here since January. I think that was a huge advantage for us, being able to work with her throughout the spring and throughout the summer, just figuring that out. The coaches have done a great job of helping her figure that out, too, because it is a big learning curve being a freshman setter. It was all just gelling. Nobody was thinking, we were just playing.”

What impressed you about Cam tonight?

“She hit shots that you literally don’t even think would be possible to hit. There was one ball where it was tight and it was kind of dying inside, and I’m getting in there ready to cover, because I think she’s going to get blocked, and then she tools the block and it goes out of bounds, and it’s like, ‘How did you do that?’ She’s just super athletic. She hit some crazy shots.”

What does it mean to you to be named a captain?

“It’s awesome, because the team votes for it. It’s cool that the team perceives me as someone who they can come to and rely on and be that kind of mediator between coach and the players. It’s a really big honor and I’m really grateful to be with Quinn and Anj, because we’re all very, very different, but we work really well together. It’s a good little trio.”

What are some things you saw that you liked from Gill and Ava tonight?

“They were always in the right spot at the right time. They passed nails in serve-receive. They were scrappy on defense. They were telling me where to hit shots also, which was super nice to hear. They just played the complete game that they could play as the libero and DS today.”

What did you think of Maggie in her debut with you guys?

“She was super energetic, and I expect nothing less from Maggie. She’s a really bubbly person, and that’s contagious. She works really hard. If she doesn’t score on the first one, she makes the adjustments to score again. She’s obviously a big blocking presence, so it’s really nice to block next to someone who I know where she’s going to be, when she’s going to be. It’s nice that we work in sync together.”

What are some things you want to see from your offense heading into the Temple match?

“I think we can speed up our offense a little bit. There are times when I’m going a little too early and Izzy is maybe hanging it more or I’m waiting. I think we can just speed it up a little bit more. Once we figure that out, I think we’ll beat a lot of good teams.”

How important will it be to clean up the serving a bit moving forward?

“Yeah, we missed a lot of serves tonight. It’s a crazy environment. It’s a big gym, so it’s really airy. Serving in practice is way different than serving in a match, just with all the people and noise and air movement, temperature, and stuff like that, which I don’t think a lot of people realize. We didn’t serve our best tonight, but it was good when it counted.”

What’s your advice for your teammates with some tough matches coming up here really soon back-to-back?

“We just have to move on quickly. This was a great win tonight against a top-15 team in the country, but once we get on the bus, we have to move on to the next one. Once we play on Sunday [against Temple], then we have to reset and move on to Tuesday against Louisville.”

Izzy Starck

What was your experience like tonight making your college debut?

“It was crazy. It was really a rollercoaster of emotions, because the nerves were a lot more intense than I thought. I’ve played in so many big matches. You think, ‘Oh, it’s going to be fine. You’re not going to be nervous or anything.’ But actually stepping on this stage, it’s just a whole different experience. But after the first set, I was able to calm down and everything and it was really good.”

What impressed you about Jess and Cam tonight?

“They’re just always available, always up and hitting high and everything, really finding ways to score and hitting around the blocks, especially double blocks. They’re still finding ways to score with the chaos balls and everything. It’s just really good how adaptable they are to the play.”

How did your older teammates help you and Ava prepare for this match?

“I think just like telling us to take a deep breath and get through. I know Quinn and I were having talks after the first set, ‘Just go out there and play confidently and everyone around you will lighten up and play confidently, too.’ I think it’s a big thing, how people feed off of each other’s energy. You just have to go out there and be comfortable and confident in it.”

What were some of the keys to turning things around after that first set?

“I think we were playing so tight. Everyone was in their own world, in their own bubble, they don’t want to make mistakes. You go or they go, that type of stuff. So I think we did a really good job of actually playing as a team and everything.”

What do you think you did well the second half of the match on offense?

“I think I was able to spread it around a little bit more, so I was able to get my hitters in better opportunities to hit.”