UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – No. 7 Penn State Women’s Volleyball made a statement to open the season with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-13) sweep over No. 4 Louisville on Tuesday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 3-0 while winning their home opener for the 13^and-consecutive season. The Cardinals lost 2-1.

Graduate student Jess Mruzik hit .367 with 13 kills. She had six of nine swings in the final set, including the last one for match point. With her 11^and The kill of the night, Mruzik reached 1,500 in her career.

Caroline Jurevicius joined Mruzik in double figures with her 11 kills. Camryn Hannah had eight on .438 hitting, while Maggie Mendelson provided an offensive spark from the middle with seven kills on .462 hitting. Izzy Starck led Penn State to .358 hitting with her 32 assists.

Mruzik just missed out on a double-double, adding nine digs to her kill total. Libero Gillian Grimes led the team with 13 digs, while Ava Falduto and Izzy Starck added seven and six, respectively.

Penn State won the serve-receive battle with five aces, compared to Louisville’s one. Hannah served for two, while Grimes, Anjelina Starck and Izzy Starck each had one.

The Nittany Lions held Louisville to .091 hitting. Cara Cresse led the Cardinals with eight kills on .312 hitting.

Series 1
Maggie Mendelson started the first set with five kills on six attacks to lead Penn State to a 25-15 victory. Mruzik and Jurevicius each added four kills. The Nittany Lions hit .389 behind 16 assists from Izzy Starck. Penn State ran away with a 4-0 run to go up 19-11. Quinn Menger was on the service line for the run and helped force two Louisville timeouts. Mendelson, Trammell and Izzy Starck each had kills during the period. Set point was eventually scored on a kill by Jurevicius.

Set 2
Penn State switched to defense in a 25-19 victory, hitting just .171 but holding Louisville to a .027 clip. It was a series of runs as the Nittany Lions scored seven straight points to take a 16-10 lead before surrendering six straight points to allow Louisville to tie the score at 16-16. The Nittany Lions responded with a 4-0 run fueled by blocks from Mruzik and Mendelson. Louisville came as close as 20-18, but Penn State scored five of the final six points to take the set, the final point coming on a kill by Izzy Starck after a set by Falduto.

Series 3
Mruzik had six kills and Jurevicius contributed four as Penn State rolled to a 25-13 victory to decide the match. Camryn Hannah was perfect with her three kills on three swings. The team was efficient with .583 hitting behind nine assists from Izzy Starck.

Highlights of your career
Caroline Jurevicius – kills (11)
Maggie Mendelson – kills (7), assists (2)
Izzy Starck – kills (3)

Next
No. 7 Penn State travels to Lexington to play in the Kentucky Invitational. The Nittany Lions play the ninth-ranked Wildcats on Friday at 7 p.m. and take on Ball State on Saturday at 5 p.m.