Penn State Volleyball Beats Western Kentucky 3-1 In Exciting Home Opener

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 14 Penn State women’s volleyball picked up its first win of the 2023 season Friday night in the program’s home opener at Rec Hall, a 3-1 victory over No. 22 Western Kentucky as part of the Penn State Invitational.

Jess Mruzik led the Nittany Lions (1-2) with a match-high 21 kills and hit .333 in the come-from-behind win, as the Hilltoppers (4-2) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after hitting .300 as a team in the first set. They would hit .300 again in the third set, but Penn State’s offense was too dominant in that frame, recording a .533 clip and a .407 mark in the fourth set to close it out.

Box Score

The second half of the match went much smoother for the Nittany Lions, whose strength through the first three contests of the season is undoubtedly its superior blocking, spearheaded by Allie Holland and Taylor Trammell. Though Holland only had one block assist against Western Kentucky, she was a force in that department in Tampa, Florida, with 18 total blocks. Penn State is currently out-blocking its opponents 44-26. Trammell, who had seven kills and a dig, tied Mruzik with five total blocks against the Hilltoppers, who beat Colgate 3-1 earlier in the day.

Sophomore Gill Grimes started at libero the first three matches of the season, but head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley elected to give senior Maddy Bilinovic a shot at her old position after the first set. Bilinovic and Grimes would tie each other with a match-high 14 digs, while Bilinovic added six assists and one of Penn State’s eight aces. Grimes had two aces and an assist, helping the Nittany Lions finish with an 8-1 advantage from the service line.

Mac Podraza dished out 34 assists and added nine digs, four kills, and an ace on what was a special night for her family. Podraza had the opportunity to play against her younger cousin, Abby Schaefer, a sophomore defensive specialist for the Hilltoppers from Walton, Kentucky. Many family members made the trip to State College for this weekend’s matches to watch the two compete. They all wore custom T-shirts with Podraza and Schaefer’s photos on them. Schaefer finished with seven digs and two assists.

Senior pin hitter Camryn Hannah had by far her best performance in a Penn State uniform so far with nine kills, three total blocks, and a dig. Schumacher-Cawley started Grimes, Bilinovic, and Lina Perugini against the Hilltoppers. Perugini finished with one dig, while junior Cassie Kuerschen chipped in seven digs as one of four substitutes for Penn State. Zoe Weatherington posted five kills off the bench and Alexa Markley added one of her own.

Notably, assistant coach Megan Hodge Easy was not seen on the bench with the rest of Penn State’s coaching staff Friday night. She accompanied the team to Florida for opening weekend at the Road 2 Tampa Bay Invitational.

The beginning of Penn State’s rally can be largely be traced back to a gigantic point up 19-15 in the second set, where Bilinovic came up clutch multiple times during a lengthy volley that had all sorts of action. The Nittany Lions could have let things unravel after losing the first set, particularly after an 0-2 opening weekend in Tampa, but the team remained focused and put the sluggish start behind it.

Kaylee Cox and Kenadee Coyle led Western Kentucky with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Redshirt sophomore setter Callie Bauer put together an impressive showing for the Hilltoppers in the second leg of their doubleheader Friday at Rec Hall. Bauer finished with a match-high 38 assists, four kills, a block assist, and a dig in the nightcap, dueling back and forth with Podraza.

Schumacher-Cawley, Mruzik, and Bilinovic met with the media following Friday’s win. The transcript of questions and answers can be found below. Penn State’s second-year head coach was complimentary of Travis Hudson’s Western Kentucky program during her Tuesday press conference earlier this week, and again after beating the Hilltoppers in four sets.

Schumacher-Cawley’s opening statement:

“First win at home. I’ll take it. It’s great.”

Maddy, what were some of the keys tonight to bouncing back from that first set?

Bilinovic: “I think just the consistent need for talking to each other, knowing what’s going on. I thought that, from the coaching staff to the bench, to the girls on the court, everyone was on the same page, knew the game plan, and wanted to execute it, so I think we did a good job with that.”

Coach, what went into the move to give Maddy the libero jersey in the second set?

KSC: “I don’t think we were passing well at all. The energy wasn’t great. Maddy came in and passed well and defended and played the whole game.

Jess, with your math teacher in the crowd, when you go talk to her, are you going to explain to her why you’re here at Penn State?

Mruzik: “She knows. Deep down, she knows. She knows me well enough. She knows I want to win.”

Maddy, what are some things that stand out about Gill’s game?

Bilinovic: “Gill’s a great player. I think every time I see her subbing in the game, I’m ready for her, and I completely trust her in the backcourt. I think that her and I, every year, have built off of our relationship, friendship with each other, and that just builds the trust. She doesn’t let balls hit the floor, and that’s what we need.”

You had 21 kills, Jess. Where does the future go for you?

Mruzik: “Hopefully, more than 21, at some point, but I think tonight, we just set our standard. We talked all last week and all of this week just about finding that next level, turning the gear one more notch. Maddy alluded to it earlier, but it’s just the talk and the energy and the defensive effort. When I go up to swing, I want to get a point for these girls, because they were busting their butts in the backcourt trying to keep the ball alive. I think, as long as we continue that defensive effort and energy, we’re only going to go up from here.”

Coach, the team hit for a pretty high percentage in the third and fourth sets. What would you attribute that to?Β 

KSC: “I thought we were passing well. I know when our serve-pass game is good, we’ll find ways to score points. I thought we picked it up.”

What were some of the things that stood out about Western Kentucky that they did well?

KSC: “They compete hard. It’s a program that I think, year-to-year, is always good. They compete hard. They’re a tournament team. They’re a ranked team. I think they’re coached well. They don’t quit.”

You came out with so much energy in the second set. What changed between the first and the second to give you that hype and momentum?

Mruzik: “Allie Holland mentioned it during our debrief after the match, but we kind of just had a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment. We say all these things. We say that we need to have energy, we need to keep talking, and in the second set, I felt like we finally just did it. We did the things that we’ve been talking about all preseason, all week, and all game. We were all on the same page, and I thought we all executed it well.”

Bilinovic: “Yeah, just a little bit off of that, we mentioned, ‘Stop playing for yourself.’ I think we started playing for each other, had each other’s backs, and that’s going to definitely get you some wins.”

What does this win mean for the team mentally after coming off back-to-back losses on the road?

Bilinovic: “It feels good. I think that’s the biggest thing. It feels good for us to mesh well together, to play well together, and get a win for the team. I think we’re [taking] a step in the right direction there.”

Jess, what’s your message to the team heading into the next two matches this weekend?

Mruzik: “We have to keep it rolling. We say it all the time, but everyone wants to play their best against Penn State, and rightfully so. We just have to keep it going and get our rest tonight, stay together, and come out tomorrow and Sunday even stronger than we did today.”

Coach, what was the difference that lit Cam up in that last set?

KSC: “Cam competes on both sides of the pin. She’s ready to go. She’s aggressive. She wants to win and score points.”

Maddy, we saw a lot of Lina and Cassie tonight. What do they bring to the table?

Bilinovic: “I think all of our DSs on our team, especially Lina and Cassie tonight, they’re good at holding us accountable, they’re always talking to us on the bench, and they also will 100 percent throw their bodies on the ground for the ball. I think that’s definitely what a Penn State libero/DS needs to be. They bring that to the table, for sure.”

How important is the mental game at the service line?

Mruzik: “Yeah, it’s super important. That’s your first line of defense that sets the tone. At this level and every level, serve and pass wins you games. Luckily, we were better in the serve and pass game sets two, three, and four, and I think that was the big difference maker, like Katie talked about.”