No. 3 Women’s Volleyball Moves to 23-1 with 3-1 Win at Northwestern – Penn State

EVANSTON, Ill. – Taylor Trammell hit .857 with 12 kills and six blocks to lead No. 3 Penn State to a 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 29-27, 25-21) win over Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Friday. The Nittany Lions upped their record to 23-1 overall and stayed unbeaten in the Big Ten at 13-0.

Penn State’s back row was busy and rose up to the challenge to help hold Northwestern to .162 hitting. Ava Falduto led all players with a career-high 24 digs, while Gillian Grimes was right behind her with 23. Jordan Hopp led the defensive effort at the net with a match-high seven blocks after entering part way through the second set. Caroline Jurevicius had six blocks, while Izzy Stark tallied five in addition to her 48 assists.

Grimes’s 19^th dig of the night was the 1,000^th of her career. She became the second player to reach the milestone this season, joining Jess Mruzik.

Mruzik continued to perform at a Player of the Year level, leading all players with 21 kills on an efficient .300 hitting in addition to her six digs. Camryn Hannah totaled 16 kills and served for three of the team’s seven aces. Falduto contributed two aces while Starck and Quinn Menger chipped in with one apiece.

Northwestern, which dropped to 4-17 overall and 2-11 in the Big Ten, was paced by Buse Hazan with 19 kills and seven digs. Drew Wright finished with 16 digs and had two of the team’s nine aces.

Penn State has a quick turnaround as it now turns its attention to a battle of top-10 teams on Saturday. The Nittany Lions take on No. 7 Wisconsin in a match that will air on NBC at 3:30 p.m. ET.