UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Women’s Volleyball racked up awards from the Big Ten on Wednesday, highlighted by Katie Schumacher-Cawley as the league’s Coach of the Year and setter Izzy Starck as the Freshman of the Year. Additionally, the Nittany Lions placed four players on the All-Big Ten First Team, one on the Second Team, and two on the All-Freshman Team.
Joining Starck on the first team were graduate student outside hitter Jess Mruzik, graduate student outside hitter Camryn Hannah, and senior middle blocker Taylor Trammell. Junior libero Gillian Grimes earned a spot on the second team. Carolina Jurevicius joined Starck on the All-Freshman Team, while freshman defensive specialist Ava Falduto was selected as the team’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Schumacher-Cawley was selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year by both the conference coaches and the media after leading the Nittany Lions to their first Big Ten title since 2017 with a 29-2 overall record and 19-1 mark in the conference. They earned the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and a one seed in their region. After going since 2019 without cracking the top five of the AVCA Poll, the Nittany Lions closed the regular season with 13 straight weeks in the top five, including a No. 2 rank in the most recent poll.
Starck established herself as one of the best setters in the nation in her first collegiate season, earning five Big Ten Setter of the Week awards and six Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. She ranks 11th in the nation overall and first among freshmen in assists/set (11.05) while leading Penn State to .282 hitting. She contributed way beyond her setting, as evident by her 14 double-doubles with assists and digs. Starck is the 14th Penn State player to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She is the first Nittany Lion to receive the award since Jonni Parker in 2018 and is the program’s first setter to earn the honor since Micha Hancock in 2011.
Mruzik is now a four-time All-Big Ten First Team honoree, including each of her two seasons at Penn State, after being one of seven unanimous selections. The outside hitter is one of 14 semifinalists for the AVCA National Player of the Year award thanks to her 4.18 kills and 2.40 digs per set for the second-ranked team in the country. A three-time Big Ten Player of the Week winner this season, Mruzik recorded double-digit kills 26 times, including a season-high 29 in a four-set win over Michigan State and then again in a…
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