The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team wasn't allowing No. 14 Kansas, the underdogs on Monday night, steal the match. With the expectations looming over the Nittany Lions (2-0) and the Jayhawks (1-1) giving them a run for their money with nothing to lose, head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley's team needed grit to prove themselves as defending national champions.
Monday was a tight battle when it was unexpected for everyone except Kansas head coach Matt Ulmer. It saw his team run away with leads, climb back up from deficits, and exploit weaknesses on Penn State's court. It was as close to a Final Four matchup as the early regular season can get. The 3-2 victory was an identity win for the Nittany Lions in a season where they need to dig deep and find themselves beyond being reigning title winners.
Jayhawk's Selena Leban and Jovana Zelenovic put up a tough battle in front of the 10-foot line between the attack and the block. Leban hit a 0.395 in the match, putting up 20 kills on the outside while Zelenovic kept on pace on the left with 13. The right side was a brick wall in front of Penn State outside hitter Emmi Sellman, tallying 10 total blocks, including two solo.
The Nittany Lions needed to move away from Sellman. The Ohio State transfer was shut down attack after attack by Zelenovic after Penn State relied on her too often to be the offensive spark. Sellman had 16 kills and 11 errors. Especially when setter Izzy Starck had a weaker rotation on the court, creativity was necessary to push the match to five sets.
Once hitting set five, Middle blocker Maggie Mendelson desperately needed to get involved with the offense. Almost-perfect passes went straight to Mendelson who took advantage of the split block and hesitation from the Jayhawks who weren't expecting a slide. The senior finished the night with 13 kills, a silent attacker compared to the expected Sellman and Kennedy Martin.
The on-point digs, though, were hard to come by from serve-receive to answering an attack. Kansas forced Penn State to get out of system from the get-go in set one. The underdogs knew that's what they were and it was clear they were more desperate for the win, which allowed them to come away with sets two and three in their favor. They also forced the Nittany Lions to dig deep and get gritty to pull out the 30-28 fourth set.
That grit and power had to come from somewhere on the court. While Martin was a killer per usual all around, the Jayhawks knew it was coming. With Sellman losing battles over and over again, outside hitter Caroline Jurevicius became that spark that Penn State needed at crucial times.
She hit the highest of any consistent Nittany Lion target Monday night with a 0.393 off 14 kills of 28 attempts. Jurevicius provided the powerhouse hit to give Penn State the match point in the fifth set as the Jayhawks slowly crept its way up to 12, and Sellman finished the night off for the outside duo. The redshirt sophomore earned MVP of the game.
The high IQ setter kept the out-of-systems match under control. In desperate moments, Starck slyly involved herself in the offense and did not let the frustration of her hitters getting swallowed up by blocks get the best of her. During the first set after Martin started chipping away at a small deficit to even the score 19-19, the setter took a risky hit on the second touch and drove it straight into the ground to give her team the advantage on the scoreboard.
Penn State heads to the State Farm Women's College Volleyball Showcase Sunday, Aug. 31 and Monday, Sept. 1. It'll face No. 13 Arizona State the first night then follow it up with No. 25 TCU the next night. First serve for both matches is slated for 5 p.m. on FOX.