Penn State Volleyball Loses To Purdue 3-1 In Dig Pink Match

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 11 Penn State women’s volleyball lost to No. 19 Purdue in four sets Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall in the program’s annual Dig Pink match, which supports breast cancer awareness.

Chloe Chicoine and fellow outside hitter Eva Hudson led the Boilermakers with 20 and 19 kills, respectively. Purdue (13-6, 7-3 Big Ten) hit .485 as a team with only one attack error in the fourth set, while the Nittany Lions (14-5, 8-2 Big Ten) again struggled at the service line with zero aces and several costly service errors, particularly in the third set.

Box Score

Jess Mruzik was spectacular for the Nittany Lions, a theme this fall, recording a season-high 27 kills, eight digs, and two total blocks. Camryn Hannah joined Mruzik in double figures with 13 kills and two blocks, while Alexa Markley added seven kills and two blocks of her own. Mac Podraza had a double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs, but Purdue freshman Taylor Anderson outdid her with 47 assists, guiding the Boilermakers to a .248 hitting percentage.

The Nittany Lions hit in the low .100s in the first and second set and finished with a .185 mark for the match. Penn State narrowly out-blocked Purdue 9-8, but the Boilermakers were too efficient in the fourth set for the Nittany Lions to dig their way back from a 2-1 deficit after taking the first set in decisive fashion following a somewhat slow start.

Penn State’s middle blockers, Taylor Trammell and Allie Holland, combined for seven kills in the loss. Holland tied Purdue’s Raven Colvin with a match-high six total blocks. Gill Grimes had 16 digs and six assists, while Purdue’s Maddie Schermerhorn led all players with 19 digs. Markley, Cassie Kuerschen, who had seven digs, and service specialist Quinn Menger were the only substitutes for the Nittany Lions Sunday afternoon.

Jess Mruzik and Anjelina Starck made a handful of incredible hustle plays during the match, as Starck dove over some folding chairs on Penn State’s bench while chasing after an errant ball and went full speed into the student section later. Mruzik flew into the crowd herself to keep the ball alive toward the end of the match, but the Nittany Lions couldn’t force a fifth set.

Fans can bid on the authentic pink jerseys the Penn State players wore in the match via the GoPSUsports website here, with proceeds benefitting The Side-Out Foundation. Four white and pink libero jerseys are also available in Maddy Bilinovic’s No. 2, Gill Grimes’ No. 3, Cassie Kuerschen’s No. 12, and Lina Perugini’s No. 15. Six numbers not worn by any Penn State players this season are available as well (Nos. 16, 18, 21, 22, 25, 26). In total, 29 jerseys are up for auction.

A special Side-Out Foundation Baden ball signed by the 2023 team is available, too. The Nike jerseys feature the Big Ten logo and “Penn State” in text above the number on the front, while a blue Nittany Lion logo is emblazoned on the back, with “Nittany Lions” in text under the number. Bidding ends Friday, October 27 at 6 p.m. ET.

The Nittany Lions will travel to Michigan and Michigan State next weekend for a pair of road matches. Penn State will face the Wolverines Friday at 7 p.m. in Ann Arbor before heading to East Lansing to take on the Spartans the following night at 7 p.m. as well. Both matches will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley, Jess Mruzik, and Camryn Hannah handled media responsibilities after Sunday’s loss to the Boilermakers. The transcript of questions and answers from their press conference can be found below.

Anjelina Starck’s teammates and coaches make sure she’s alright after diving into the bench after a ball.

Schumacher-Cawley’s opening statement:

“Thanks for coming. It’s tough to lose at home. I thought Purdue came in and played really good volleyball. We made too many errors throughout the match that kept us off.”

Coach, what kind of challenges did [Chloe] Chicoine and [Eva] Hudson pose for your team today?

KSC: “Yeah, 49 swings and 42 swings. They were aggressive, they used the block well, they mixed it up. They’re great outside hitters.”

What does playing in the Dig Pink match mean to the team? How would you describe today’s crowd?

KSC: “I think everyone here has been affected by breast cancer, whether it’s family, friends. The game is not as important as people who are struggling with that. We had a great turnout. I know they’re selling these jerseys and things like that. The money will go for a great cause and hopefully help someone.”

What were your expectations heading into the match and how did they differ from the outcome?

Hannah: “I mean, we expect to win, and we lost. I think that you can’t really expect anything, because everyone [in the Big Ten] is good. You have to respect them as a team. We have to play our best, and we didn’t play our best today.”

Mruzik: “Yeah, I think the expectations, we don’t necessarily think about the other team, like Cam said. Obviously, we want to come in here and win every match, but the expectations for ourselves I don’t think we lived up to today. There were a lot of things we did today that are uncharacteristic for Penn State volleyball, and obviously, that’s tough, because a team like Purdue, or any team in the Big Ten, is going to take advantage of that.”

Jess, you and Anje [Starck] made some great plays diving into the crowd and into the bench. How important is that effort and hustle?

Mruzik: “When the game’s tight, you never want to go down without a fight. I know it’s for the people around me. If someone gets a great touch, you just have to give everything you have to get another touch and hope that it stays off the ground, but I think effort and defensive effort sets the tone for us as a team. We talked about that a little bit before the match. Those plays are huge momentum plays. If we can convert those, that’s just a huge momentum swing for us.”

Coach, what are some things you saw in this match that you want to improve upon this week?

KSC: “I think we can serve a little bit tougher. I thought we passed well and we took some big swings. I tell our attackers all the time to go for it, so we took some big swings and I think made a couple unforced errors that we just need to tighten up. I think, defensively, we can be a little bit better.”

Cam, what are some things that Purdue did well today? They hit close to .500 in the fourth set.

Hannah: “I think they were in-system a lot, so that helped them. They didn’t make a lot of errors on their side, and I think that kept them in the game, because we made errors.”

For the players, what do the causes this weekend mean to you?

Hannah: “I think we all have someone who’s affected by breast cancer, like coach said, so it’s important that we get to put on this jersey and wear this color, and represent something bigger than just this game or just playing volleyball.”