No. 4 Penn State bounces back and sweeps Illinois in THON match.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - It was a packed Friday night in the historic Rec Hall as No. 4 Penn State took on Illinois for the annual THON match.

The Nittany Lions were looking to get back on track after falling to Wisconsin in straight sets last Saturday.

The Fighting Illini got off to a powerful 4-0 start in the first set, but Penn State never let it get away. The Nittany Lions were able to tie the set 9-9 after a successful challenge. The set continued to go back and forth until Penn State eventually came out on top 25-23.

The Nittany Lions came away with a more commanding 25-18 victory in set two. Despite Illinois putting up more attacks and kills throughout the first two sets, Penn State was able to pull through with even contributions from everyone on the floor.

“With the 16 players we have, they each have a role and understand what they need to do to help win,” Head Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said about the team victory.

The third set looked much like the first. The Nittany Lions were able to complete the sweep with a dramatic 25-21 victory.

Penn State fell behind early in the set but used a series of runs to overpower Illinois.

Camryn Hannah turned on beast mode in the third set to finish the match with 13 kills. Hannah had five straight kills at the end of the set to put the Nittany Lions up 20-17.

Hannah owes a lot of her success to her connection with freshman setter Izzy Starck.

“I love that she [Starck] is so adaptable. Some games I want it faster and some when you’ve got to just give it a little more height,” Hannah said. “She’s really good at just knowing those games and working with me throughout the game.”

The most impressive part about the Nittany Lion victory was they did it without the typical dominance of Jess Mruzik. Mruzik finished the game with only five kills, her first time in single digits since a loss to No. 1 Pittsburgh on Sept. 18.

Quinn Menger did her job for Penn State as a serving specialist, finishing the match with a career-high four service aces.

“That's her [Menger] role right now. Her role is to come in and score some points,” Schumacher-Cawley said.

Raina Terry caused lots of issues for the Nittany Lions, finishing the match with 19 kills and a .500 hitting percentage.

Penn State struggled to slow down Terry, but her dominance wasn’t enough to push the Fighting Illini to victory.

The key to the Nittany Lion victory was that they were able to collectively slow down the strong Illinois service game.

“I think our passers have been doing a good job of communicating and it’s a skill that we work on every day in practice,” coach Schumacher-Cawley said about the improvements to this aspect of the team's game.

Both teams will be back in action on Sunday with Illinois traveling to take on No. 8 Purdue and Penn State heading to College Park to face Maryland.

Gianna Dowling is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email gmd5738@psu.edu.