UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball finished off an unbeaten weekend with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-15) sweep over visiting St. John’s on Saturday evening at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions didn’t drop a set while going 3-0 over two days to win the Penn State Invitational.
Penn State is off to an 8-0 start for the second time in Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s three seasons as head coach. St. John’s, which was coming off wins over Duke and Princeton at Rec Hall, fell to 6-3.
Caroline Jurevicius was nearly perfect for Penn State, hitting .909 with 10 kills and no errors on 11 attacks. She was also in on five of the team’s 11 blocks. Jess Mruzik led all players with 16 kills. Taylor Trammell continued her impressive run of late, hitting .500 with six kills and six blocks.
Izzy Starck led the Nittany Lions to .309 hitting with her 31 assists, had two of the team’s four aces, and contributed defensively with four blocks and four digs. Also doing work defensively was Gillian Grimes with eight digs and Falduto with six.
In addition to their back-row defense, Falduto and Grimes have been the team’s top servers through eight matches. Both players had an ace against St. John’s, giving Falduto a team-high 11 for the season and Grimes 10.
Mruzik was named the MVP of the Penn State Invitational. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Jurevicius and Starck
St. John’s was held to .129 hitting but did receive a big night from Erin Jones. She hit .333 with 14 kills and three blocks.
Set 1
Mruzik hit .400 with seven kills and four digs to lead Penn State to a 25-19 win in the first set. Camryn Hannah had four kills on five attacks, and Jurevicius tallied three kills on four swings. The Nittany Lions notched the six-point win without recording an ace or a block in the set. A 4-0 run that put them up 21-15 helped make the difference. Mruzik fueled the run with a pair of kills.
Set 2
Jurevicius had four kills on four attacks in Penn State’s 25-22 win in set two. The Nittany Lions trailed 14-11 before scoring five straight points. The run started with kills by Jurevicius and Mruzik and included an ace by Falduto. The Red Storm continued to battle and eventually took a two-point lead at 20-18. The Nittany Lions came alive with a 6-0 run to take a 24-20 advantage. The run started with a Trammell kill, and she later added a solo block to put Penn State up 21-20. Izzy Starck followed with back-to-back aces before Trammell added another kill. Set point was later scored on a service error.
Set 3
Jurevicius proved to be unstoppable yet again in the third set with three more kills on three attacks, helping Penn State get the 25-15 win. Mruzik piled up five kills in the set. The Nittany Lions left little doubt in this one, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. St. John’s never got closer than three the rest of the way.
Career Highs
Caroline Jurevicius – assists (2), blocks (5)
Izzy Starck – aces (2)
Up Next
No. 3 Penn State stays in state for a match at No. 1 Pittsburgh on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The match will be played at the Petersen Events Center and will air live on ACC Network.