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Penn State defeats Louisville for 8th NCAA volleyball championship behind Jess Mruzik's 29 kills

A wild (and historic) second set made way to a dominant 3-1 Penn State win for the Nittany Lions' first volleyball title in a decade

kari anderson
Contributing writer
·3-min read
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 22: Jess Mruzik #9 of the Penn St. Nittany Lions lunges for the ball during the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship against the Louisville Cardinals held at the KFC YUM! Center on December 22, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Jess Mruzik was the player of the match for Penn State, getting 29 kills and 14 digs to lead the Nittany Lions to a win. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The Nittany Lions are NCAA volleyball champions again. Penn State powered to a 3-1 (25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17) win over Louisville in the national championship match on Sunday, securing the program's eighth NCAA title.

What started as a close matchup, including a wild, record-breaking second set, quickly saw Penn State pull away behind the help of outside hitter Jess Mruzik's 29 kills. After four competitive sets, the Nittany Lions raised their first trophy in a decade in front of a record crowd of 21,860 roaring fans in Louisville.

Penn State muscled past Louisville to take the first set, nabbing two quick points to close the set even after the Cardinals tied things up at 23-all.

That made way for a wild second set, which the Cardinals won well into extra points. The Nittany Lions took a healthy lead to start the second set, but Louisville came from behind despite being down by as many as seven points. With Penn State at set point, the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to tie things up at 24-all. The two kept trading points, fighting for the win.

In the end, Louisville picked up the second set, 34-32, despite 10 Penn State set points. The 66 total points marked the most in a single set during a championship match in NCAA history.

The Nittany Lions followed up with a stronger third set, where they won 25-20 behind 10 kills from Mruzik. Penn State pulled away completely in the fourth set. Camryn Hannah, who finished with 19 kills, notched the final kill on the championship point, to give the Nittany Lions the win.

Cardinals star hitter Anna DeBeer was out for the match after suffering an ankle injury in the semifinal. With DeBeer on the sideline, Charitie Luper and Sofia Maldonado Diaz filled in for Louisville, getting 21 and 20 kills, respectively.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for Louisville, who could not stop a red-hot Mruzik throughout the final frames. Mruzik was nearly unstoppable, getting 14 digs and scoring 33 total points for the Nittany Lions throughout the game.

Sunday's match made history, marking the first time that both teams meeting in the national championship have been coached by women. In another bit of history, Penn State, coached by former Nittany Lion Katie Schumacher-Cawley, became the first team with a female coach to win the title.

Schumacher-Cawley was part of the 1999 national championship team that gave Penn State its first volleyball title. The coach has also been going through the tournament while battling breast cancer; Schumacher-Cawley announced her diagnosis on social media in October, but has continued leading Penn State through an incredible title run.