No. 2 Penn State Headed to National Championship After Reverse Sweep of No. 3 Nebraska
The Nittany Lions will play in the National Championship match for the 11th time in program history
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Penn State Women’s Volleyball is headed to the National Championship match for the 11th time in program history after pulling off a dramatic reverse-sweep comeback over third-ranked and second overall seed Nebraska on Thursday night at Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center. The 3-2 (23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-13) win, which wrapped up at nearly 1 a.m. ET, was the Nittany Lions’ first reverse sweep in the NCAA Tournament since coming back to beat Texas for the 2009 National Championship. The match was played in front of an NCAA Tournament record crowd of 21,726 fans.
Jess Mruzik caught fire over the final three sets and finished with a match-high 26 kills on .300 hitting and added 12 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. She was dominant in the fifth set with six kill kills on eight swings while willing Penn State to the win, keeping both the Nittany Lions’ season and her collegiate career alive for one more match. She also reached a major career milestone as her kill that put the Nittany Lions up 12-8 was the 2,000th of her illustrious career.
While it was Mruzik that took over late, it was redshirt freshman Caroline Jurevicius that had a career night – again – against Nebraska. Less than a month ago she recorded a career-high 18 kills on .414 hitting to help Penn State clinch a share of the Big Ten title with a 3-1 win over Nebraska at Rec Hall. She topped that in the latest win over the Huskers, hitting .286 with 20 kills and four blocks. The Nittany Lions improved to 34-2 overall with the victory.
Setter Izzy Starck, who was recently named the AVCA National Freshman of the Year, registered her 17th double-double of the season with 56 assists and 11 digs. Junior libero Gillian Grimes just missed a double-double with a match-high 25 digs in addition to nine assists. Other notable performances included Camryn Hannah with 16 kills and five digs and Taylor Trammell with five kills and five block. Jordan Hopp, who came off the bench in the second set, went on to contribute four blocks. Ava Falduto had two of the team’s seven aces, while Mruzik, Hannah, Starck, Grimes, and Quinn Menger each chipped in with one.
The teams switched sides in the final set with Penn State holding an 8-5 lead, but Nebraska battled back to get within one at 9-8. The Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run that included two kills by Mruzik and a block by Hopp and Jurevicius to go up 12-8. The Huskers fought back again to get within one at 14-13. Penn State avoided extra points as Starck found Hannah for the match-clinching kill.
Nebraska received a huge match from Andi Jackson with 19 kills on .630 hitting in addition to her five blocks. Harper Murray led the team with 20 kills, while Rebekah Allick led all players with 10 blocks.
Penn State now turns its attention to third-ranked and fourth-overall seed Louisville. The teams will meet for the National Championship on Sunday at 3 p.m. in a match that will air live on ABC. The Nittany Lions will look to win the eighth National Title in program history.