Podraza, Mruzik Help Penn State Volleyball Sweep Rutgers In Big Ten Opener

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball swept Rutgers in its Big Ten opener Wednesday night at Rec Hall to improve to 42-9 in its all-time series against the Scarlet Knights, who fell to 8-3 on the season after posting their best non-conference record since 2012.

Mac Podraza and Jess Mruzik were outstanding for the Nittany Lions (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten), showcasing why they’re considered two of the top players in the Big Ten and all of college volleyball, recording 45 assists and 18 kills, respectively.

Mruzik hit .533 and only had two attack errors on 30 swings. She also added 10 digs, three total blocks, and an assist for her second double-double so far this season. Podraza also had three kills and three digs in the win. She averaged a sterling 15 assists per set.

Box Score

Podraza set a season high in assists, besting her 40 against Seton Hall, and led Penn State’s offense to a .390 hitting percentage, including a .485 clip in the first set. After hitting .310 in the first set, Rutgers cooled down significantly and finished with a .127 mark after hitting about .050 each of the next two sets. The Nittany Lions out-blocked the Scarlet Knights 9-5, but neither team had an ace Wednesday and both had six service errors.

Penn State’s passing was improved after some shaky outings in that department in non-conference play, helping Podraza spread the ball around more effectively. It was easily the most comfortable Podraza has looked in a Penn State uniform thus far, finding Mruzik and several other scoring options with precise sets time and again. Camryn Hannah (10 kills, .350) and Allie Holland (nine kills, .643) turned in standout performances of their own.

Alexa Markley (six kills), Cassie Kuerschen (eight digs), and Quinn Menger were Penn State’s only substitutes of the match, continuing a theme from last weekend, when Katie Schumacher-Cawley and her coaching staff called upon just two substitutes in wins over UMBC and Seton Hall. Penn State sided out 80.4 percent of the time against the Scarlet Knights and held a 44-31 advantage in digs.

The Nittany Lions went with a starting lineup of Podraza, Mruzik, Holland, Hannah, Taylor Trammell (five kills, five total blocks), Anjelina Starck (seven digs, one kill), and libero Gill Grimes (12 digs, three assists) for the third match in a row. Hannah has four double-digit-kill outings in her last seven appearances. Her teammates have complimented her vertical leap during recent press conferences, and it’s clear she and Podraza have steadily improved their chemistry.

Podraza surpassed 300 assists on the season and now sits at 339 heading into Penn State’s next match, a road tilt Sunday at 2 p.m. ET versus Northwestern (6-4) at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois. Grimes cleared 100 digs through the first 10 matches of the season and now has a team-high 108.

Mruzik leads the Nittany Lions by a wide margin with 146 kills — 77 more than Hannah, who’s in second with 69. Holland, who’s pacing Penn State’s defense with 48 total blocks, three more than Trammell, is also leading the team in aces with 10, one more than Mruzik. The Wildcats are coming off a home sweep of Yale last Friday and will host No. 1 Wisconsin this Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

Schumacher-Cawley, Holland, and Trammell took to the podium in Penn State’s media room following the win to discuss what went well for the Nittany Lions in their Big Ten opener, how the middle blockers’ connection with Podraza has grown, and what separates Mruzik from the conference’s top outside hitters, among other topics.

The transcript of questions and answers can be found below. Of note, a Penn State sports journalism class attended the press conference and several students asked questions.

Penn State’s players link arms and sing the alma mater after the team’s win over Rutgers.

Schumacher-Cawley’s opening statement:

“Every conference win is a great win. It’s nice to win at home. I thought we played well and competed hard. We’ll enjoy this for a minute, and then on to Northwestern.”

Rutgers hit above .300 in the first set and then about .050 in the second and third. What do you think was going well for you defensively?

KSC: “I thought we started off a little bit slow defensively and picked it up. We ended up with nine blocks. I thought we did a much better job of identifying the hitters, blocking, and digging.”

Allie and Taylor, you’re a heavy upperclassmen group. You tend to win this match every year. What goes into these matches? It’s something you probably smile at when you see Rutgers on the schedule, but how do you not get complacent?

Trammell: “Honestly, I think that every Big Ten team is a good team, so I think that we go into every match with a clear head. I think that, going into this match, we wanted to start our season off really strong, and I think we did that by doing it in three sets. I’m just excited to see how we do the rest of the season.”

Holland: “Yeah, we’re definitely not going into any match being like, ‘Oh, this one’s easy,’ because the Big Ten is the hardest volleyball conference. We’re looking at every single game with a smile, because we’re excited to play, but not with a smile because we’re just assuming we’re going to win.”

For the players, how do you think your relationship with Mac has improved?

Trammell: “I know, for me, in practice we’ve been doing a lot of extra reps with her and making sure that we’re in film and that we’re watching ourselves in practice and games. Just, overall, knowing what we want, what I want, and what she wants, and putting it together, it’s been really good. I think that it’s only going to get stronger throughout the season.”

Holland: “Yeah, with time, obviously, the relationship is going to improve, but I think that we’ve had some good film sessions recently as we get more and more game film, and that’s really beneficial for us, because we can kind of tweak from game film and go from there.”

For coach and the players, you’ve won three matches in a row. What has changed in practice and games to make this happen and help prepare you for the rest of the Big Ten schedule?

Trammell: “I think that, after a couple of our losses, we came into practice on a mission. I’ll say this, our whole team’s mindset really changed, and we had to lock in, and I think we’ve done that. I think we’re going to continue with that type of killer mentality throughout our season. Just making our practices be really dialed in and focused, and knowing that this is to help us improve and that this is going to help us later on in the matches.”

KSC: “I think it’s just being able to compete every day. Like these two said, they’re putting in the extra effort to get better at their skills. It’s an every-day thing. Just having that mindset of working hard, whether you’re in the gym or the weight room or the training room, that they have to put the time in.”

In the third set, it was back and forth to start, but then you had that massive run. What changed? What allowed you to flip the switch?

Holland: “Well, [Anjelina] Starck’s serving run was incredible. I thought she did a great job from the service line, so super proud of her for that. But yeah, once a server gets hot, it gets you some momentum, and you go from there.”

Coach, you said earlier that you weren’t super happy with your team’s blocking against Seton Hall. Who or what, specifically, really improved in this match?

KSC: “I think these two right here. They do a great job and they’re aware of what’s going on, but I think it’s being able to be fast and aggressive every play. I think blocking is a tough skill, but I think it’s having the mentality of being aggressive and fast and paying attention to what’s going on, and these two did a great job with it tonight. I think that’s a skill that you have to work on every day.”

For the players, what separates Jess from some of the other outside hitters in the Big Ten?

Trammell: “I feel like, if you know Jess’ personality, she’s totally different from any other outside I’ve met. I think she goes into every game, like we just said, with that killer mindset, and she knows what she needs to do, and how we hold her to such a high standard, I feel like, too, on our team. Every day, she shows up. Every day, she does what we need, and I know what I’m going to get from her.”

Holland: “In addition to, obviously, hitting the ball really hard, she’s just a great six-rotation player. She’s a consistent server. I always trust her behind me on defense or in serve receive, so it’s really impressive, her six-rotation skills.”

You struggled against some ranked teams to start the season. That’s something that’s always on a great team’s mind is to beat another great team. You might have to wait a few matches until you play your next ranked opponent. Is that something that the team is thinking about, trying to face a team like Minnesota?

KSC: “This conference is relentless. Every team has great players and competes hard. We didn’t play great last year when we went to Northwestern, so we need to take care of business and take each match one at a time.”