Penn State Women’s Volleyball Responds, Remains Undefeated All-Time Vs Iowa

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 11 Penn State took down the Iowa Hawkeyes in straight sets at Rec Hall on Oct. 20.

After a road loss to Nebraska which snapped their nine-match win streak, Penn State responded at home by winning their second match against Iowa this season and 59th all-time against the Hawkeyes.

“I say it all the time, any win in this conference is a great win, and it’s nice to win at home. And I’m glad we rallied back and found some ways to score,” head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said.

It was a slow and sloppy start for both teams in the early going of the first set with many missed kill opportunities.

But as both teams settled into the set Penn State would find themselves getting into a groove with multiple scoring runs including a five-point scoring run which created some separation.

Penn State won the first set 25-19 and capped it off with a commanding block from Allie Holland and Mac Podraza that really got the crowd involved at Rec Hall.

“I’ve been watching the atmosphere at Rec Hall since I was 10 years old since I started playing volleyball and it never fails to amaze me. It’s awesome to play in. It’s awesome to know that you have a great support system,” DS graduate student Lina Perugini said.

Jess Mruzik was the star of set one as she had five kills to go along with two digs and was able to bring some much-needed energy to the team.

Penn State opened up set two on a 6-0 run but the Hawkeyes responded with a 9-2 run of their own led by Delaney McSweeney who would end up with nine kills total in the match.

Iowa seemed to be much improved since their last match against the Nittany Lions but it still wasn’t enough against the talented Nittany Lions who would go on to win the second set 25-19.

“They know how to put balls away even when we’re out of the system and I think that’s really important to have studs like them who when Mac knows she can just get the ball to them and they’re able to put it away,” Perugini said about Mruzik and Camryn Hanna.

Penn State would go on to close out the match with a set three win by a score of 25-17 in arguably their sharpest set of the night.

“I think defense is something we talk about every day. And we’ll always do some sort of defense, blocking, and digging…I think we can be a very good defensive team. I thought the lockers turned it on here from the second set to the third,” Schumacher-Cawley said.

Looking ahead to Penn State’s next matchup their head coach wants them to tighten things up a little bit.

“I think we’ll have to serve and pass a whole lot better. I think just being able to start the match fast and earn points and score points instead of being down 0-4, 0-5,” Schumacher-Cawley said.

Penn State Women’s Volleyball will look to start another winning streak this Sunday, Oct. 22, vs. Purdue at 1 p.m.

Rob Cardini is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email rvc5706@psu.edu