Penn State beats Marquette for women's volleyball berth in regional final

STATE COLLEGE — Camryn Hannah hit .476 with 24 kills to lead the Penn State women’s volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 24-26, 25-20) win over Marquette in an NCAA regional semifinal Friday afternoon inside Rec Hall.

The Nittany Lions improved to 32-2 overall while advancing to the NCAA regional finals for the 21st time in program history.

Penn State faces Creighton at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.

The Nittany Lions had two players with 20-plus kills in the win as Jess Mruzik recorded a double-double with 20 kills and 13 digs. Taylor Trammell hit .417 with nine kills and four blocks, while Caroline Jurevicius and Maggie Mendelson added five kills apiece. The team hit .280 behind 43 assists by freshman Izzy Starck.

Starck added 13 digs to her assist total to register her 15th double-double of the season. Gillian Grimes led all Penn State players with 15 digs, while Ava Falduto tallied 11 and Jocelyn Nathan chipped in with seven.

Falduto had a huge match at the service line with four of the team’s seven aces. Quinn Menger, Hannah and Mruzik each chipped in with one.

Marquette was in the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive season and played in the regional semifinal for the second time in three seasons. The Golden Eagles, who were led by Natalie Ring with 14 kills and Molly Berezowitz with 18 digs, closed the season at 25-9 overall.

Hannah hit .625 with five kills, and Mruzik tallied four kills, five digs and one ace to lift Penn State to an easy 25-15 win in the opening set. The Nittany Lions trailed 5-3 before going on a 6-0 run that included kills by Hannah and Mruzik. They continued to pull away with a 3-0 run that was capped by a pair of Mruzik kills to go up 15-9. The Nittany Lions only increased their lead from there until Jurevicius put the finishing touches on the 10-pont win with a kill for set point.

It was Mruzik’s turn to shine in the second set as she hit .462 with seven kills in Penn State’s 25-21 win. Hannah continued to excel with five kills, while Trammell added three. The score was tied as late as 18-all before the Nittany Lions reeled off three straight points with a kill by Hannah, a kill by Mruzik and an ace by Hannah. A kill by Aubrey Hamilton got Marquette within two at 23-21. Penn State responded with the final two points of the set on kills by Mruzik and Hannah.

Penn State was well on its way to a sweep as it held a 24-21 lead in the third set, only to watch as Marquette went on a 5-0 run to stay alive with a 26-24 win. Jenna Reitsma put the Golden Eagles up 25-24 with an ace. Set point was then scored on a Penn State attack error. The set loss came despite seven kills from Hannah.

Hannah added seven more kills on .778 hitting as Penn State closed the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set. Mruzik tacked on five more kills to her total. It was a close set early as Penn State held a slim 11-10 lead. The Nittany Lions then erupted for a 5-0 run to go up 16-10. Trammell started the run with a kill, while Mruzik had two kills during that stretch. The Golden Eagles battled back to get within two at 22-20. Mruzik came through with back-to-back kills to give the Nittany Lions their first chance at set point. Falduto made it count with her fourth ace of the night.