This season for Penn State women’s volleyball is bridging two eras. Two-time All-American outside hitter Jess Mruzik has paced all Nittany Lions hitters with 396 kills in her final season of eligibility, nearly all on assists from true freshman and No. 1 overall recruit in the 2024 high school class, Izzy Starck.
On Sunday afternoon in College Park, Maryland, No. 4 Penn State improved to 25-2 on the year with a four-set victory over the Terrapins. Mruzik and Starck led the way, both posting double-doubles. Mruzik hit .325 with 15 kills and 15 digs for her eighth double-double of the year while Starck dished out 49 assists for an offense that hit .362 and added 17 digs for her 11th double-double.
Former Clemson transfer and graduate student Camryn Hannah led the way with 17 kills as head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s mix of young and old continues to mesh into one of the most efficient attacks in the country. With Mruzik drawing so much attention, Hannah, a 2020 AVCA All-American honorable mention, hit .500 against the Terps. The 6-foot-2 outside racked up seven kills in Set 1 and hit .778 in a 25-13 Nittany Lion win.
Penn State is ninth in the Big Ten in total sets played, yet is first in total kills and tops even No. 2 ranked Nebraska in kills per set at 14.56. Behind Starck’s incredibly mature distributing for a true freshman, the Nittany Lions are hitting .290 for the year, third in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin and Nebraska, and just ahead of Purdue, the Nittany Lions next opponent.
Both of Penn State’s losses this season have come to fellow top 10 teams, Pitt and Wisconsin, but both came on the road. The No. 8 Boilermakers will head to Happy Valley for a Thursday night matchup at Rec Hall.