UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – No. No. 4 Penn State added another top-10 win to its resume with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-16) victory over No. 8 Purdue in a Big Ten women’s volleyball match Thursday night at Rec Hall. It was the Nittany Lions’ fourth win this season over an opponent ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game.

The Nittany Lions improved to 26-2 overall and 16-1 in the Big Ten while extending their Rec Hall winning streak to 18 straight games. This season they are a perfect 14-0 at home. The Boilermakers saw their six-game winning streak come to an end as they fell to 22-6 overall and 13-4 in the conference.

Head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley took her 200^e win career with the sweep. Seventy-five of those wins came as coach at Penn State, which has a .798 winning percentage.

Penn State held Purdue to .142 hitting, marking the fourth time this season the Nittany Lions held a nationally ranked opponent under .200 hitting in Rec Hall. The back row defense played a big role in that, led by libero Gillian Grimes with 20 digs. Jess Mruzik and Izzy Starck each added 10 digs while recording a double-double each. Mruzik had 11 kills to complete her ninth double-double of the season, while Starck added 38 assists to her 12^e double-double.

Maggie Mendelson had a huge game with 10 kills on .529 hitting, while Penn State had possibly the best performance it has had all season on the slide. Camryn Hannah continued her late-season run with 14 kills and a pair of aces. It was her 10^e-straight match with double digit kills. Taylor Trammell contributed six kills and had five blocks to share the team lead with Starck.

And speaking of late-season tears, Quinn Menger continued to be a threat at the service line. She had three aces against Purdue, giving her 10 in the team’s past three games.

Eva Hudson paced Purdue with 12 kills, but Penn State limited the Boilermakers’ two All-American pin hitters to a total of 17 kills on .111 hitting.

Penn State improved to 4-2 against Purdue under Schumacher-Cawley.

Set 1
Mruzik and Hannah each scored five kills to help Penn State open the match with a 25-20 win in the first set. Despite Purdue leading 16-13, Penn State went on a 12-4 run thanks to three kills each from Mruzik and Mendelson. Mendelson had four kills on .800 hitting in the set, while Starck dished out 13 assists and added a kill for set point.

Set 2
Hannah excelled with six kills, while Mendelson continued to dominate, scoring three in a 25-23 win in set two. After again trailing late at 18-15, Penn State tied the score at 23-23 on three kills and an ace from Hannah. Mruzik and Mendelson then each added a kill to win the set 25-23. Menger served an ace for the second straight set and Starck did her part with 14 assists.

Set 3
Menger added another ace as Penn State rolled to a 25-16 victory, completing the sweep. The Nittany Lions closed the game on a 5-0 run, powered by a Mruzik kill and two block assists. Match point came on a block from Mruzik and Trammell.

Next
Penn State welcomes Washington to Rec Hall on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Nittany Lions will honor their seniors after the game.