Penn State Volleyball Loses To Michigan State For First Time Since 2013

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball lost to Michigan State for the first time since September 27, 2013, falling to the Spartans in five sets Saturday night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

Jess Mruzik had a match-high 19 kills in the loss, stretching her team lead to 334 on the season. Mruzik was the only Nittany Lion to reach double-digit kills against the Spartans, who improved to 14-9 and 6-6 in conference play this season. Penn State (15-6, 9-3 Big Ten) out-blocked Michigan State 16-7, but gave up some untimely scoring runs in the first, fourth, and fifth sets.

Box Score

Former Penn State setter Rachel Muisenga, who transferred to Michigan State prior to the 2022 season, finished with 17 assists and 10 digs. She was one of four Spartans with double-digit digs Saturday night, while Taylah Holdem and Aliyah Moore paced Michigan State’s offense with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. The Spartans hit .144 to Penn State’s .128, as neither team generated much consistency offensively.

Despite having one of its better serving performances of the season as a team with 10 aces and eight service errors, the Nittany Lions were unable to capitalize on Michigan State’s lack of production at the end line, as the Spartans had 10 service errors and only one ace. Zoe Weatherington started for the second night in a row, tallying three kills and three digs, while usual starter Camryn Hannah was held to a negative hitting percentage with eight kills.

Penn State utilized five substitutes, including senior defensive specialist Maddy Bilinovic, who had eight digs and a career-high four aces. Anjelina Starck also had an impressive night at the service line with a career-high three aces of her own, as well as five kills and eight digs. Sophomore libero Gill Grimes had a team-high 13 digs and five assists. Alexa Markley, Ally Van Eekeren, and Quinn Menger came off the bench.

Allie Holland led all players with six total blocks in the loss, while adding seven kills, four digs, and an assist. Fellow middle blocker Taylor Trammell had five total blocks, four kills, and two digs, finishing with zero attack errors on her 14 swings. Mruzik took the most swings of any player with 51, as Mac Podraza continued to feed Penn State’s prolific attacker. Podraza had a match-high 37 assists, 12 digs, five total blocks, an ace, and a kill.

Bilinovic and Podraza combined for a great play midway through the first set, with things tied 13-13, as Bilinovic dove and made a spectacular one-handed save before Podraza immediately used her right hand to dump the ball over her shoulder for a kill. The Spartans would later take the first set following a 5-0 run, however.

The Nittany Lions will return to Rec Hall for their biggest home match of the regular season Friday at 8:30 p.m. when they host No. 1 Nebraska (21-0, 12-0 Big Ten) in the program’s annual White Out match. The contest will be broadcast on Big Ten Network. Penn State will have a chance to redeem itself against the Spartans when they come to Rec Hall Friday, November 17 at 7 p.m. for the Silent Set match.