Penn State Volleyball Sweeps UMBC To Advance To Round Of 32

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 4 seed Penn State women’s volleyball swept UMBC (25-14, 25-17, 25-12) Friday night in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament at Rec Hall.

Box Score

The Nittany Lions (25-7, 13-7 Big Ten) hit .333 in the win and will host No. 5 seed UCF Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. Zoe Weatherington led Penn State with a match-high nine kills (.438), while Maddy Bilinovic had four assists and a match-high nine digs, tying UMBC’s Aysia Miller. Bilinovic surpassed 400 digs on the season and currently sits at 407.

Penn State improved to 24-0 in the first round of the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1998. Allie Holland, Alexa Markley, and Kash Williams had seven kills apiece for the Nittany Lions, while Katie Clark added five more. Penn State out-blocked UMBC 14-2. Holland had a match-high eight total blocks. Anjelina Starck had a team-high two of Penn State’s six aces.

Penn State hit above .300 in each set and sided out 61.4 percent of the time against the Retrievers (17-9, 7-3 America East), who made their third straight NCAA tournament appearance and first under new head coach Kasey Crider. Leisa Elisaia guided Penn State’s offense with a match-high 28 assists, five digs, three kills, and three blocks.

Gillian Grimes and Cassie Kuerschen had six and three digs, respectively, in the win. Sophomore Quinn Menger came in to serve late in the third set and was one of four substitutes for the Nittany Lions, including Kuerschen, Starck, and Williams. Of note, defensive specialist Mandi Morioka was not seen with the team during tonight’s match.

Penn State opened the match with a 5-0 run that prompted a Retrievers timeout. The Nittany Lions finished off the sweep with a 3-0 run that featured a Markley kill, a UMBC attack error, and a Markley/Holland block on match point. Markley had four total blocks.

UCF (28-1, 19-1 AAC) swept Yale earlier Friday evening behind a match-high 14 kills and 15 digs from McKenna Melville, who on November 24 against Tulane became the 10th Division I player ever to reach 2,500 career kills. Setter Amber Olson had a match-high 34 assists and six digs against the Bulldogs.

UCF’s only loss this season came on the road at Houston on October 7. The Knights grabbed a share of their fifth straight AAC title after handing the Cougars their only loss of conference play in the season finale on November 25. Penn State swept UCF in Orlando in the Nittany Lions’ third match of the 2021 season.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley, Zoe Weatherington, and Maddy Bilinovic spoke to the media following Penn State’s sweep of the Retrievers. The transcript of questions and answers, lightly edited for clarity, can be found below. There’s also a bonus quote from UMBC coach Kasey Crider, who was extremely complimentary of the Nittany Lions.

Schumacher-Cawley’s opening statement:

“It’s always nice to win at home, especially in the first round of the tournament. I’m happy for these two. I’m happy for the group. I thought it was a solid effort across the board. We’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Penn State’s now 24-0 in round of 64 matches. What kind of momentum does it give you to win your first match?

KSC: “I’m not a big stat person. But that’s a good stat. We’re happy to be hosting. It’s nice to get this one under our belt and feeling good. There are quite a few of them who hadn’t been in the tournament yet. It’s a great win. We’re going to have to be a little bit sharper tomorrow. I’m excited they can get home and get some rest, practice tomorrow morning, and be ready to go.”

Zoe, what were some of the keys to the team’s offense tonight? You guys hit over .300 in each set.

Weatherington: “You can’t hit over .300 without a good pass and a good set. I think we were really cohesive in our offense tonight. If we can get even better tomorrow, I believe that’s going to happen.”

Coach, starting out 5-0 and forcing a timeout to begin the match, what’s the feeling like in the huddle?

KSC: “I think that we talk about that quite a bit, because usually we’re on the other side of that the last couple matches. But I think we were making plays and keeping the ball in. Any time you can go up 5-0 and earn some points is a good thing, so I’m just glad we kept grinding away and earning. They’re a good team, though. They caught us off guard a couple times and fought back. I’m proud of the way that we competed.”

Coach, you mentioned part of the team hadn’t played in a tournament match yet. How much does playing at home help ease that transition?

KSC: “I think it’s huge. Playing at home in Rec Hall, there’s no place like this. For us to earn the right to play these two matches here, I think it’s a huge advantage. I know these guys like playing in front of their families and the band and the cheerleaders. We’re lucky we have a great crowd. Again, there’s no place like Rec Hall.”

Maddy, what are some things UMBC did well tonight to challenge you guys?

Bilinovic: “I thought UMBC stayed consistent in putting pressure on us at the service line for them. I think that they forced our passers to consistently talk the whole match. Especially toward the end of it, we were able to actually open up to each other and better work together than we did at the beginning, so it’s good to see that progress throughout the match.”

Coach, having someone like Kash who has that much power, how do you encourage her to take some of it off at times?

KSC: “I think Kash and Zoe both have big arms and hit the crap out of the ball. I think [it’s] being able to keep the ball in play a little bit more. They both have the green light to swing, and they know that. I think both of them, especially Zoe, have done a really good job of being able to tip and move the ball around a little bit better. When you have attackers like that, I don’t want to hold them back, that’s for sure.”

Zoe, does it make you feel comfortable knowing that you have the green light to swing away? Does that add an extra element to your game?

Weatherington: “Yes. I mean, I would obviously think I have the green light sometimes, but UMBC, they didn’t give up at all. They still put pressure on me to make sure I’m on my toes. They kept me on my toes all night I feel like. Leisa and I were in the groove. It felt good to know that my teammates had my back, my coaches had my back. It feels good.”

Maddy, what’s your message to the team heading into tomorrow’s match against UCF?

Bilinovic: “We’ve been saying it all week. Just one game at a time. I think that every day going to practice, working hard, and giving our 100 percent is only going to benefit us moving forward. We just have to keep that same mentality.”

How does winning a match 3-0 help with such a short turnaround? You have less than 24 hours to prepare for UCF.

KSC: “The match is here. We’re going to be ready to go. These guys have to get some treatment here before they leave the gym and get to bed early tonight. I think they’ve been doing a good job of taking care of themselves and having some real ownership in doing those things, since I can’t make them do those things.”

Kasey Crider on his respect for the Penn State program, Russ Rose, and Katie Schumacher-Cawley, plus some thoughts on the match and his UMBC team.

“Congrats to Penn State. It was a little bit of a buzzsaw for us. I don’t think I can speak highly enough of the job that Katie has done here in replacement of Russ. You’re talking about inarguably the best NCAA volleyball coach of all time. Filling those shoes? I can’t even imagine. I’m probably a little biased, but my vote for Big Ten Coach of the Year. The program is in a great place. You saw that tonight. Unfortunately, I had to experience it a little bit. But I think from that perspective, just in respect to the match itself, there’s a reason the Big Ten is the best conference. It has the best athletes and some of the best coaching and obviously some of the best facilities. It just promotes this professionalism. Penn State’s performance was as professional as it gets in the NCAA.

“I thought there were some stretches where we hung in there. Maybe the whole match, we hung in there okay. I don’t know that we were ever the better team at any point, but we hung in there. If I know one thing about our group, it’s that we’re not afraid. We’re not in La La Land. We understand the gravity of trying to play a team like Penn State, an upper-echelon Big Ten team, but we’re also not afraid. The alternative is not being here. The alternative is being at home watching this match and not getting your butts kicked. We’ll choose this every time. We would do it again tomorrow if they would let us. I know Penn State has bigger fish to fry, but I’m really, really proud and honored to be a piece of this group. I inherited some really special people, these two, [Aysia Miller and Michela De Marzi], kind of leading that charge.”