Penn State Volleyball Beats Seton Hall 3-1 Behind Mruzik, Grimes

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball beat Seton Hall 3-1 in its final non-conference match of the regular season Saturday evening at Rec Hall.

Jess Mruzik led the Nittany Lions (6-3) with a match-high 20 kills, eight digs, three total blocks, and Penn State’s only service ace, while sophomore libero Gill Grimes had a career-high 19 digs and three assists in the win. It was Mruzik’s third match with 20-plus kills this season.

Box Score

Alexa Markley tied her season high with 10 kills for the second match in a row, hitting .296 and adding two digs against the Pirates. Markley and junior defensive specialist Cassie Kuerschen, who had 15 digs and an assist, were Penn State’s only substitutes of the match.

Camryn Hannah, who started her third match in the last four contests, finished with nine kills and tied Allie Holland with a team-high five total blocks. Hannah had nine total blocks during this weekend’s Penn State Classic. Holland added four kills and three digs, but was held to a .067 hitting percentage, while fellow middle blocker Taylor Trammell had seven kills, three total blocks, and two digs.

The Nittany Lions struggled at the service line with only one ace and 10 errors. Seton Hall had a difficult time keeping its serves in play, too, tallying two aces and 15 errors. Despite featuring a smaller lineup generally speaking, the Pirates surprisingly out-blocked Penn State 12-11. The Nittany Lions hit .211 a day after hitting .351 in a sweep of UMBC. Seton Hall hit just .138 Saturday.

Mac Podraza had her first double-double of the season with a match-high 40 assists, 10 digs, two kills, and two total blocks against the Pirates. Podraza looked more comfortable running Penn State’s offense than she did in previous weeks, as she also had 35 assists Friday versus the Retrievers. She was named MVP of the Penn State Classic. Podraza, Grimes, and Kuerschen were joined in double figures by Anjelina Starck, who had 10 digs and four assists in her fourth start of the season.

The Nittany Lions will begin Big Ten play Wednesday at 6 p.m. when they host Rutgers (8-2) in a televised match on Big Ten Network. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a five-set home loss to Princeton on Friday in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Penn State’s second conference match of the week is a road tilt at Northwestern (6-4) Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. The Wildcats lost to Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s former team, UIC, in five sets last Wednesday in Evanston, Illinois. Schumacher-Cawley began her collegiate coaching career with the Flames, spending 14 seasons in her hometown of Chicago, including eight as head coach.

Schumacher-Cawley, Grimes, and Trammell represented the team at the post-match press conference following the win over Seton Hall. The transcript of questions and answers can be found below.

From left: Dan Gwitt, Megan Hodge Easy, Brian Toron, Taylor Trammell, and Katie Schumacher-Cawley.

Schumacher-Cawley’s opening statement:

“It’s always nice to win at home. I thought Seton Hall played aggressively, played hard, and I think they’re a good team. They definitely exposed things that we need to work on.”

Gill had a career-high 19 digs. How would you assess her play today?

KSC: “Gill’s in there to dig, pass, and to run the floor. I thought she did a really good job today.”

What are some things you think Taylor did well?

KSC: “I thought Taylor turned it around, blocked some balls, and was available in transition. She scored the last couple points, because she was aggressive and found an open spot on the court. I think Taylor’s had a great preseason.”

Mac had a season-high 40 assists. What do you think made the difference in that?

KSC: “I think we passed well. I think Gill passed well. I think Anje came in and did some nice things. Jess and Cassie controlled, too. I think when we pass well, Mac can move the ball around well.”

What stood out about your defense today? What went well? What didn’t go well?

KSC: “I think we weren’t as aggressive as I would like to see. We need to be flying around and more aware of what’s going on. I think we need to be able to focus every point, and be able to reset and learn from previous plays and be better as the match goes on.”

Cam and Allie both had five total blocks, but one of the things I noticed was that Penn State’s vertical leap was higher than Seton Hall’s swings, so there were a lot of balls hitting off your blocker’s faces and elbows. What did you think of that?

KSC: “Yeah, we have to be better at adjusting and being lower and tighter along the net. We’ll see hitters like that all season, too, so we have to be able to make changes quicker.”

Gill Grimes prepares to serve during Saturday’s match against Seton Hall.

Gill, what are some things that Seton Hall did well today?

Grimes: “I thought they were a very scrappy team. Like coach said, they were hitting balls off the block, which is hard for a defender to pick up. I thought they just worked really hard.”

Taylor, what are some things you’ve seen Gill improve from freshman to sophomore year?

Trammell: “I think that Gill, on the court, has gotten a lot louder, and I can just see her molding into this perfect libero role that our team needs. I think that, every day, she gets better, she’s growing, and she’s becoming confident. That’s all the stuff we love about her.”

Jess had 20 kills today. How would you assess her impact?

Trammell: “I think Jess is going to bring it every single day that we need her to. I think that what she does on the court is unlike what anybody else can do. I think that she’s going to be great for us in the Big Ten season.”

Alexa had double-digit kills twice this weekend. What did you see that made the difference in that?

Trammell: “I think Alexa had a lot of energy on the court. I think that helped her. I think Alexa’s definitely a momentum-type player. Once she had the momentum, she never lost it. I think that’s really good for her.”

Grimes: “I think Lex had her confidence up these past two games. That’s what we need from her, because we need her on the court.”

Gill, it was a tough serving day for the team. What are some keys at the line that you all have to focus on?

Grimes: “Definitely taking our time. For me, I have to take a few deep breaths, whatever it is. Definitely taking our time, because we can’t afford missed serves against a team like that, or any team really.”

Coach, what are some things you want to see from the team heading into Big Ten play?

KSC: “I’d like to see us have a couple good days of practice, regroup, and to find the grit and the fight that we need. This conference is relentless. It’s a couple days away. We’re playing Wednesday night, so we have a short window of time here to be prepared and ready to go.”