Penn State women’s volleyball head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley shared she was battling breast cancer in October. She hasn’t missed a practice all year and, after taking down Louisville on Sunday afternoon, became the first female head coach ever to win a Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
The Nittany Lions defeated the Louisville Cardinals 3-1 (25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17) at the Yum! Center in Louisville to secure their eighth national title in program history. Penn State finished the year with a 35-2 overall record, taking home the title of national and Big Ten champions.
[autotag]Jess Mruzik[/autotag] has been the star of the last two games, and she left little doubt about who the Most Outstanding Player would be. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter put down 29 kills against the Cardinals to go along with 14 digs, five blocks, and an ace. Her standout performance came just a few days after she powered the Nittany Lions to a reverse sweep over Nebraska with 26 kills.
[autotag]Camryn Hannah[/autotag] racked up 19 kills, three digs, and two blocks, while [autotag]Gillian Grimes[/autotag] tallied a team-high 16 digs. Both were major contributors to Penn State’s victory and joined Mruzik on the All-Championship Team.
Penn State is now 8-3 in National Championship games and sits just one title behind Stanford for the most of any program. The 2024 season has been nothing short of inspirational for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and to cap it off in historic fashion, with Schumacher-Cawley becoming the first female head coach to win a national championship, was quite the moment.