Penn State graduate Jess Mruzik has played Big Ten volleyball for five years, but is only in her second for the Nittany Lions. Mruzik, the 2019 National Gatorade Player of the Year, headed to Michigan as the No. 4 overall recruit in the class of 2020 and had a stellar career in Ann Arbor before leaving for Happy Valley in 2023. Wednesday night at Rec Hall, she was getting her third and possibly final chance to dominate her former team.

Last season, the reigning first-team All-Big Ten outside hitter led the Nittany Lions to a four-set victory in Ann Arbor with 18 kills and posted a team-high 13 kills in a sweep of the Wolverines at home. Now in 2024, Mruzik, who was an honorable mention All-American at Michigan in 2021 and a second-team All-American in 2023, has led No. 3 Penn State to a 20-1 start with an excellent record of 10-0 in Big Ten play.

That undefeated conference streak should continue against the 16-5 (6-4) Wolverines. Offensively, Penn State ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten in kills per set, behind Mruzik’s 4.57, which is second-best in the conference behind Ohio State’s Emily Londot. It’s not just pure offensive firepower either, with true freshman setter Izzy Starck the No. 1 recruit in the high school class of 2024, head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s team ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage at .294, only behind Wisconsin and colleagues. undefeated, Nebraska.

Heading into this rivalry match against her former team, Mruzik had a team-high 16 kills in Penn State’s four-set victory over No. 16 USC in LA on Saturday. However, she made nine attacking errors and hit only 0.143, something the 1.80 meter tall outsider hopes to clear up on Wednesday evening. Michigan is allowing opponents to hit .184 but is averaging the fewest blocks per set of any Big Ten team, so it could be a nice rebounding spot after an inefficient road trip for Mruzik.

Wednesday night’s game at the Rec starts at 7:30 PM ET and can be seen on the Big Ten Network.