Penn State Downs Creighton in Five-Set Thriller (On to Louisville, Oh Yeah)

Posted on by DigNittany Staff

Penn State grabs five-set win (25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-7) over #2 seed Creighton (which was ranked #6 in the final 2024 AVCA poll).

Louisville Bound! Those are two words that the D1 volleyball world didn’t anticipate being attached to Penn State Women’s Volleyball in 2024.  But here we are, after #1 seeded (and AVCA #2-ranked) Penn State’s high-pressure, five-set win (25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-7) over #2 seed Creighton (which was ranked #6 in the final 2024 AVCA poll). Jess Mruzik (20 kills), Caroline Jurevicius (11 kills), and Camryn Hannah (9 kills) led the way for the Nittany Lions.  Ava Martin (17 kills), Norah Sis (8 kills), Jaya Johnson (8 kills), and Elise Goetzinger (8 kills) were the top attackers for Creighton.

All four #1 seeds in the NCAA Tourney made the Final Four (Pitt will face off against Louisville in one National Semifinal, while Penn State will face Nebraska in the other) — the first time all four #1 seeds have made it to the Final Four since 2008 when, you guessed it, Penn State won its second consecutive National Championship. (Some have called that 2008 Penn State team the best D1 women’s volleyball team ever.)  It is Penn State’s 14th trip to the National Semifinals.

It’s a team sport, and Coach Katie always emphasizes that the players and the staff get it done.  But, we’d like to give a shoutout to Coach Katie, who simply is the best.  Now this is a mug!

Jess Mruzik, Cam Hannah, Izzy Stark, and Gillian Grimes  were named to the All-Regional Team.

Complete match stats are below the match video.

Here’s a link to the NCAA’s coverage of the match: Penn State vs. Creighton Highlights (from NCAA)

Box Score

Match Details

Creighton Penn St.
Set K E TA % K E TA %
1 8 5 37 0.081 13 5 38 0.211
2 15 3 24 0.500 11 4 26 0.269
3 12 7 43 0.116 13 5 37 0.216
4 10 8 26 0.077 10 7 28 0.107
5 3 4 19 -0.053 9 2 17 0.412
Total 48 27 149 0.141 56 23 146 0.226
Creighton Penn St.
Points 67 74
Kills 48 56
Aces 10 7
Blocks 9 11
Assists 46 51
Digs 56 63

Match Leaders

Creighton – Leaders
Kills Ava Martin (17), Norah Sis (8), Jaya Johnson (8), Elise Goetzinger (8)
Aces Norah Sis (3), Ava Martin (2), Maddy Bilinovic (2)
Blocks Kendra Wait (5), Kiara Reinhardt (5), Elise Goetzinger (4)
Assists Kendra Wait (36), Maddy Bilinovic (5), Sydney Breissinger (3)
Digs Maddy Bilinovic (16), Norah Sis (12), Kendra Wait (9)
Penn St. – Leaders
Kills Jess Mruzik (20), Caroline Jurevicius (11), Camryn Hannah (9)
Aces Quinn Menger (2), Camryn Hannah (2), Ava Falduto (1), Gillian Grimes (1), Jess Mruzik (1)
Blocks Taylor Trammell (5), Jess Mruzik (4), Jordan Hopp (4)
Assists Izzy Starck (41), Gillian Grimes (5), Ava Falduto (4)
Digs Gillian Grimes (17), Izzy Starck (11), Ava Falduto (10)

Penn State Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
9 Jess Mruzik 5 20 5 54 0.278 0 0 1 3 0 4 1 8 0 3 23
8 Camryn Hannah 5 9 10 29 -0.034 0 0 2 2 1 2 0 2 0 0 13
1 Taylor Trammell 5 8 1 12 0.583 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 11
14 Caroline Jurevicius 5 11 4 24 0.292 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 11
21 Izzy Starck 5 6 0 16 0.375 41 0 0 2 0 3 0 11 0 0 7.5
5 Jordan Hopp 3 1 0 2 0.500 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 3
24 Quinn Menger 5 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
44 Maggie Mendelson 3 1 3 9 -0.222 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.5
3 Gillian Grimes 5 0 0 0 0.000 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 17 0 3 1
2 Ava Falduto 5 0 0 0 0.000 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 10 0 2 1
11 Jocelyn Nathan 5 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 9 0 2 0
Total 56 23 146 0.226 51 0 7 13 2 18 1 63 0 10 74

Creighton Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
8 Ava Martin 5 17 10 53 0.132 1 0 2 4 0 1 0 8 0 1 19.5
2 Norah Sis 5 8 8 33 0.000 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 12 0 2 11.5
13 Elise Goetzinger 5 8 4 17 0.235 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 10
6 Jaya Johnson 5 8 2 23 0.261 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 8.5
15 Kendra Wait 5 4 1 12 0.250 36 0 1 0 0 5 0 9 0 1 7.5
5 Kiara Reinhardt 5 3 2 11 0.091 1 0 0 0 1 4 2 1 0 1 6
22 Maddy Bilinovic 5 0 0 0 0.000 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 2
24 Sydney Breissinger 5 0 0 0 0.000 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 5 0 2 1
1 Alivia Hausmann 5 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Total 48 27 149 0.141 46 1 10 10 1 16 2 56 0 7 67

Box Score