No. 3 Penn State women’s volleyball swept Princeton and St. John’s in a Saturday doubleheader at Rec Hall to claim the Penn State Invitational after previously sweeping Duke on Friday.
Jess Mruzik was named MVP afterward and was joined on the all-tournament team by Izzy Starck and Caroline Jurevicius. Mruzik had a match-high 16 kills and six digs against the Red Storm after spending a solid portion of the Princeton match watching from the sidelines.
Princeton ✔️
St. John’s 🔜 #WeAre pic.twitter.com/SNrrgAWktG— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 14, 2024
𝟴-𝟬#WeAre pic.twitter.com/RgICJCFtAi
— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 15, 2024
Starck had exactly 31 assists in both matches Saturday and combined for 10 blocks, seven digs, four kills, and three aces. After recording four kills in the morning match, Jurevicius had 10 in the nightcap and not a single attack error, hitting .909 and adding five blocks against St. John’s, a team Penn State faced in an exhibition match before the 2023 season.
Maggie Mendelson had a team-high nine kills and tied Starck for the most blocks with six against the Tigers, then followed it up with five more blocks and four kills versus the Red Storm. The middle blocker duo of Mendelson and Taylor Trammell has been very successful for the Nittany Lions (8-0) through the first three weeks of the season, as Trammell had 12 kills and eight blocks Saturday and has generally stepped up her offensive performance in her fifth season.
For the second time this season, Katie Schumacher-Cawley and her staff were able to get all 16 players involved in the Princeton match, like they did in a road sweep of Temple. Among the notable bench contributions, Jordan Hopp had three kills, Quinn Menger had five assists and a dig after coming on in relief of Starck, and Joce Nathan had an ace and a dig.
The Nittany Lions didn’t drop a set all weekend and only allowed their opponents to surpass the 20-point threshold in two of the nine sets they played. Starck has guided Penn State’s offense to a hitting percentage of at least .300 in all but two matches so far. The Temple and Kentucky wins were the only contests in which the Nittany Lions didn’t reach that mark, but Starck did not play the entire match against the Owls.
Post-St. John’s Match Press Conference
There was not a press conference following the morning match, but Schumacher-Cawley, Jurevicius, and Trammell spoke to the media after sweeping St. John’s. The full transcript of questions and answers can be found below.
Below their comments, you can also find the extended highlights from each match, via Big Ten Network’s YouTube channel.
Opening statement:
KSC: “Thanks for coming, everyone, and coming back [for the second match]. I’m really happy for the team. They competed hard. It’s hard to win. I thought we struggled in points of the match, and we bounced back quickly, made adjustments, and found a way to score. Both of these guys up here played [exceptionally well]. The focus is to continue to get better every set we play, and I think a lot of us are doing that.”
Caroline, you hit .909. Could you just feel it going your way?
Jurevicius: “It was a quick turnaround this morning. I think I just needed to take a little reset. I felt a lot better this afternoon. I took a really good, long nap and decided that, ‘Alright, I have to show up for my teammates today.’ So I just kept going. I think the team played amazingly and they provided a great environment for me to do what I just did. All the credit goes to my teammates for doing their jobs correctly.”
Coach, what were some of the positives that you noticed tonight?
KSC: “It was a total team effort. I thought we were passing well. I think I say the same thing to you guys. If we pass well, Izzy can move the ball around and everyone’s scoring. I thought we did a good job offensively. Defensively, I think we were a little bit slow at the net. Taylor had a bunch of blocks and kept us in the second set there. I thought we picked it up and, defensively, were doing a better job from the second set on.”
Taylor, you hit .500. How did that feel for you?
Trammell: “It felt really good. We’ve been working day in and day out throughout this weekend, knowing that we have this tournament and were playing two games back-to-back. It was good just knowing the hard work paid off.”
Coach, Jess Mruzik had 16 kills. What are your thoughts on her game today?
KSC: “I thought Jess played a great match. She played six rotations and keeps the ball in play when she needs to. Obviously, she’s a really aggressive attacker. I think a couple of our attackers have the green light to go and get it. She’s one of them. I’m happy with her play and her ability to steady it out when it gets a little rough for us.”
Coach, through eight matches, what have you learned about Izzy Starck and Ava Falduto?
KSC: “I think they’re both great players and work really hard to get better every day. I think they’re students of the game. They put the time in, whether it’s watching film or in the gym getting extra reps. I’m not surprised they’re playing well. They know the areas that they need to improve on, but I’m really happy for them. I think they have great teammates around them to help them out, too.”
Coach, Wednesday you travel to Pitt and it’s likely to be a top-three matchup. What does that say about the landscape of college volleyball that a match that big is centered in Pennsylvania?
KSC: “Yeah, who would have thought? Pennsylvania, one and three right now. I think it’s great. I think it’s great for the game. I think that our players do a great job of growing the game, whether they’re helping with the [Happy Volley Academy] club here in town, around younger players all the time. I’m excited for that matchup. I’m excited for the team to compete. It will be a great crowd there. It will be fun to only have to go two-and-a-half hours for a match like that.”
For the players, what do you think are the main reasons for the team’s chemistry so far this season?
Jurevicius: “To be honest, I think there are some things that you can’t really put words to. We just mesh, and I think we’re there for each other on a different level. It all kind of starts off the court. We hang out all the time. It’s just something that I don’t really even know how to describe. Tay?”
Trammell: “I think that putting the mix of old and young together this year has really helped us a lot. I also feel like being together since spring meant the world’s difference. This is my first time our team has really [been] set, besides Jordan. But even Jordan coming on our European trip, it meant a lot. Just being together, a lot of teams don’t get that. We’ve been together this whole time.”