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Penn State women’s volleyball star may have last opportunity to dominate former team

By Josh Yourish

Wisconsin opposite Devyn Robinson (10) and middle blocker Caroline Crawford (9) attempt to block the shot from Penn State outside hitter Jess Mruzik (9)
Wisconsin opposite Devyn Robinson (10) and middle blocker Caroline Crawford (9) attempt to block the shot from Penn State outside hitter Jess Mruzik (9) / Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Penn State graduate student Jess Mruzik has spent five years playing Big Ten volleyball but is in just her second for the Nittany Lions. Mruzik, the 2019 National Gatorade Player of the Year, headed to Michigan as the No. 4 overall recruit in the 2020 class and had an excellent career in Ann Arbor before heading to Happy Valley in 2023. On Wednesday night at Rec Hall, she’ll have her third, and potentially final opportunity to dominate her former team. 

Last season, the reigning first-team All-Big Ten outside hitter led the Nittany Lions to a four-set victory in Ann Arbor with 18 kills and posted a team-high 13 kills in a sweep of the Wolverines at home. Now in 2024, Mruzik, who was an All-American honorable mention at Michigan in 2021 and was a second-team All-American in 2023, has led No. 3 Penn State to a 20-1 start with a sterling 10-0 record in Big Ten play. 

That unbeaten conference streak should continue against the 16-5 (6-4) Wolverines. Offensively Penn State is No. 1 in the Big Ten in kills per set behind Mruzik’s 4.57, which is second best to Ohio State Emily Londot in the conference. It’s not just raw offensive firepower either, with true freshman setter Izzy Starck, the No. 1 recruit in the 2024 high school class, head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s team is third in the conference in hitting percentage at 0.294, only trailing Wisconsin and fellow unbeaten, Nebraska. 

Heading into this rivalry game against her former team, Mruzik had a team-high 16 kills in Penn State’s four-set victory over No. 16 USC out in LA on Saturday. However, she had nine attacking errors and only hit 0.143, something the 6-foot-1 outside will be hoping to clean up on Wednesday night. Michigan allows opponents to hit 0.184 but averages the fewest blocks per set of any Big Ten team, so it could be a nice bounce-back spot after an inefficient road trip for Mruzik. 

Wednesday night’s match at the Rec begins at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on the Big Ten Network.

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