Penn State Volleyball Beats Yale 3-1, Will Face Kansas In Round Of 32

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 5 seed Penn State women’s volleyball beat Yale 3-1 in Thursday evening’s NCAA tournament opener at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence, Kansas, and will face the host Jayhawks in Friday’s round of 32 at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN Plus.

Jess Mruzik was outstanding in the Nittany Lions’ victory over former Penn State assistant coach Erin Appleman’s Bulldogs, who finished the season 21-4 after Appleman led them to a record 12th Ivy League title. Appleman coached Katie Schumacher-Cawley during her eight-year tenure in University Park from 1993-2000, helping Penn State win its first NCAA national championship in program history in 1999.

Box Score

Mruzik had a match-high 19 kills and only one attack error on 37 swings, hitting .486 against the Bulldogs, who won the second set and took a 7-0 lead in the third set before eventually bowing out of the tournament. In fact, Penn State (22-8, 15-5 Big Ten) trailed the whole third set until tying things up at 19-19 following a Yale attack error. Soon after, Maddy Bilinovic served up an ace and Allie Holland gave Penn State a 2-1 lead with one of her seven kills.

Mruzik added six digs, two assists, a block, and an ace in the win, while Mac Podraza guided Penn State’s offense to a .373 hitting percentage and had a match-high 42 assists and 10 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. The Nittany Lions hit .550 in the first set and .520 in the fourth, bookending lopsided results around a pair of tightly contested middle frames.

Podraza’s season-high three aces also helped the Nittany Lions finish with a decided advantage from the service line, as they tallied eight aces and eight errors to Yale’s seven and 14, respectively. Penn State also out-blocked the Bulldogs 9-2 thanks in large part to Holland, Zoe Weatherington, and Taylor Trammell.

Holland and Weatherington had a match-high five total blocks apiece, while Trammell added four of her own and eight kills on a sterling .538 hitting percentage. Weatherington matched Holland with seven kills and hit .385. Penn State’s attackers on the whole were extremely efficient Thursday evening, surrendering just 11 errors on 110 swings.

Late in the fourth set, with Penn State leading 22-15, Anjelina Starck unloaded on a ball and accidentally nailed a Yale player in the face, drawing quite a reaction from the junior outside hitter and her teammates, who covered their mouths in shock.

Starck finished with five kills in the win, as did Camryn Hannah, who was recognized by the Big Ten as a second-team selection Thursday when the conference announced its postseason honors. Mruzik and Podraza received first-team nods for the third and fourth time of their careers, respectively.

Starck and Bilinovic, who had eight digs and two assists to go along with her ace, were the only substitutes for the Nittany Lions. Sophomore libero Gill Grimes had a match-high 15 digs, four assists, and an ace, helping Penn State improve to 43-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament as the only program to qualify for every postseason since its inception in 1981.

The Nittany Lions have a difficult test on their agenda Friday when they face Kansas (24-5, 14-4 Big 12) with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. The Jayhawks swept Omaha in their first-round matchup following Penn State’s win and will have the home crowd on their side in an intimate venue that only seats 2,265. Kansas standout Camryn Turner was recently named Big 12 Setter of the Year and Ray Bechard took home his fifth Big 12 Coach of the Year honors.