Mruzik leads No. 3 women's volleyball to victory over No. 11 Oregon-Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Jess Mruzik hit .353 with 16 kills, eight digs and three solo blocks to lead No. 3 Penn State in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) Big Ten over No. 11 Oregon -Volleyball games on Friday evenings in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions won their sixth straight game and improved to 14-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. The Ducks' 11-game winning streak came to an end as they fell to 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

Mruzik is off to a blistering start in Big Ten play, hitting .327 and averaging 5.36 kills and 2.93 digs per set in four conference wins. The latest performance came just one night after she hit .313 with 17 kills and 14 digs in a four-set win over Maryland.

Penn State was strong again in the middle as Maggie Mendelson hit .353 with seven kills and five blocks and Taylor Trammell hit .417 with seven kills. The Nittany Lions also got a solid performance from the right guard, with Caroline Jurevicius hitting .455 with five kills.

Gillian Grimes led Penn State with 10 points, while Anjelina Starck scored eight points. Ava Falduto had four digs, but more of her production came on the service line. The Nittany Lions scored 19 points with the defensive specialist at the line.

Michelle Ohowobete was the most efficient player for Oregon, hitting .350 with 10 kills, eight digs and three blocks. The Ducks were held to a .075 batting average. Penn State has held 11 of its 14 opponents to under .200 hitting, including five of its six nationally ranked opponents.

Penn State has won 13 straight games at Rec Hall, including all nine games this season. The Nittany Lions have won 10 straight Big Ten regular-season games since last season.

Sentence 1
Mruzik started strong with eight kills and led Penn State to a 25-19 win in the opening set. Trammell had four kills in her four attacks. The Nittany Lions broke a 9-9 tie with a 4-0 run capped by a kill from Mruzik. They later used a 5-0 run to take a 19-11 lead. The first three points of the run were scored by kills from Mruzik. The fourth point came from a solo block by Mruzik. The set point was later achieved with a kill from Mruzik.

Sentence 2
Penn State held Oregon to .088 hitting in a 25-19 win in the second set. Mruzik and Camryn Hannah led the attack with three kills each. The Nittany Lions led by just one, 19-18, before scoring six of the final seven points. The set ended with a 4-0 run by Penn State that also included kills from Jurevicius and Mruzik.

Sentence 3
Mruzik added five more kills hitting .400 in Penn State's 25-17 win to close out the game. Mendelson had four kills on five attacks and added two solo blocks, while Jurevicius had three hits on her five attacks. Izzy Starck totaled 13 assists and led the Nittany Lions to hit .342. Mruzik finished the match with a kill after a set from Izzy Starck.

Next
Penn State travels for two Big Ten games. The Nittany Lions play at Michigan State on Friday at 6 p.m. and Indiana State on Sunday at 1 p.m