Penn State women's volleyball weekend recap

The Penn State Nittany Lions were on the giving and receiving end of a pair of sweeps last weekend. As the Nittany Lions traveled to Temple and Louisville for their first competition on the road since a Tampa Bay Invitational match on Aug. 26 against Georgia Tech.

An abundant crowd of almost 2,500 fans packed into McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia and Penn State would waste no time.

The first set concluded by a 25-9 score led by team captain Allie Holland who accrued four kills and three blocks.

Camryn Hannah slammed down five kills and Cassie Kuerschen and Jess Mruzik tallied together a plethora of digs on the defensive front for a solid team effort early on by Penn State.

The second set final read 25-15 as Zoe Weatherington burst with efficiency by hitting .833. Holland continued to pour it on with four more kills and an impressive three service aces.

The third set is when things got interesting, as the Nittany Lions trailed 25-24 before amassing three consecutive points to complete the sweep. Anjelina Starck led the charge by striking eight kills fused with .400 hitting in the set.

Weatherington hit .500 in the match while leading the team at 11 kills. Hannah also posted double-digit kills with 10 on the afternoon while accruing two digs and a solo block in the effort.

Holland put her versatility on full display by hitting .316 on an eight-kill performance packaged with five blocks and four aces. Holland has been one of the most prolific forces for the blue and white this season.

Avery Luoma, whose brother Matthew plays for the Penn State men’s volleyball team, tied the team lead at kills for Temple with six alongside Olivia Vance.

The sweep of Temple would mark four wins in a row for Penn State. The No. 12 Nittany Lions would now have their sights set on the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals.

In the opening set, Louisville was substantially inefficient by hitting .059 as a team, but so was Penn State with .29 hitting. The messy set would end in the Cardinals' favor by a 25-17 score, as Aiko Jones’ four kills would make the difference.

Both squads would start executing more in the second set. Especially Mruzik for the blue and white, as she would hit .857 bundled with six kills and three digs.

Louisville would hit .333 in the second frame and maintain control for most of the set en route to a 25-19 result.

The Cardinals would carry their momentum into the third set by springing out to a 5-0 lead and accomplishing the sweep by a 25-16 final blow to stay undefeated at 8-0.

Mruzik would post 12 kills as the team leader, and Hannah would inch closer toward 1,000 career kills with just one more to go.

Anna DaBeer claimed a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs on the afternoon, and Jones clustered eight kills while hitting .312.

Although the Nittany Lions would post 10 blocks and constrict the Cardinals to .186 hitting, Louisville would excel in passing and ball movement along with five aces for the match win.

Louisville’s next match will be at home this Sunday against Stanford at 1 p.m.

Following the road-trip split, Penn State gets to travel back home to Rec Hall for the Penn State Classic. The blue and white will compete against UMBC on Friday night at 7 p.m., followed by Seton Hall on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Jake Irwin is a fourth-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jpi5089@psu.edu.