UNIVERSITY PARK — Gillian Grimes racked up 27 digs to lead No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball to a 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-13) win over visiting Yale in non-conference action Sunday, Sept. 22, at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions closed non-conference play at 10-1, turning their attention to a Big Ten match at No. 6 Purdue on Wednesday, Sept. 25. The Bulldogs finished 5-3 in their non-conference schedule.
Grimes spearheaded the effort as Penn State finished with 75 digs in the four-set match. Ava Falduto had 15 digs, while Izzy Starck also reached double-digits with 12. Starck’s came as part of a double-double. The freshman finished with 47 assists while leading the team to .371 hitting. She added five kills, two aces and two blocks.
Penn State’s outside hitters put up big numbers in the win. Camryn Hannah hit .359 with 18 kills, while Jess Mruzik hit .286 with 15 kills. The team received solid production from the middle as Maggie Mendelson had 10 kills on .526 hitting and Taylor Trammell tallied eight kills on .375 hitting. Mendelson also led the team in blocks with six.
FIRST SET
Grimes led the way with 10 digs to help seal a 25-18 first set win for the Nittany Lions. Mruzik led the team with six kills, followed by three each for Mendelson and Hannah. Penn State led by as much as eight points before Yale battled back to get within three at 21-18. Two kills by Mruzik and a Hannah ace fueled a 4-0 run to secure the set for the Nittany Lions.
SECOND SET
Penn State hit .452, led by four kills each from Mruzik and Hannah. Hannah hit .571 in the set. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 9-5 lead and never looked back, with Yale not getting within five points for the rest of the set. Set point was scored on a Grimes ace. Starck and Grimes combined for 11 digs.
THIRD SET
Penn State dropped the third set by a 25-23 score despite six kills from Hannah. Yale was driven by two aces by Isabella Mendoza and six kills from Betsy Goodenow.
FOURTH SET
Penn State started off the fourth set with an ace from Anjelina Starck and a Trammell kill to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Nittany Lions dominated the final set with a 25-13 win, fueled again by five kills each from Mruzik and Hannah. The Nittany Lions held Yale to just .061 hitting while hitting .484 as a team. A Trammell kill sealed the win for Penn State.
Starck was named the Big Ten Women’s Volleyball Freshman of the Week on Monday, Sept. 23, after leading the Nittany Lions to wins over James Madison and Yale, both of which played in last year’s NCAA tournament.
Starck earned the award for the third time in the first four weeks of the season. She is the first Penn State player since Jonni Parker in 2018 to receive the honor three times in one season.
The setter helped the Nittany Lions win the Penn State Classic, averaging 11.71 assists per set while leading the team to .351 hitting.
For the week, which also included a three-set match at No. 1 Pitt, Starck averaged 10.80 assists/set while leading Penn State to .309 hitting.
