Jess Mruzik – Syndication Server

Penn State women’s volleyball rallied back from a 0-2 set deficit and fought off two match points to beat Nebraska 3-2 (23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-13) in five sets and advance to the national title game.

With their comeback, the Nittany Lions became the sixth team in NCAA Tournament history to reverse sweep a semifinal or final. It was also the first reverse sweep in the semifinals since 2018. Penn State last accomplished the feat in the NCAA Tournament when they came back to beat Texas in the 2009 National Championship.

The Cornhuskers looked poised to advance to the final after taking a commanding 2-0 set lead over the Nittany Lions. But Penn State staged an epic rally, winning the third set 25-23 and the fourth 28-26 to force a winner-take-all fifth set. Camryn Hannah’s kill sealed a 15-13 set five victory for the Nittany Lions early Friday morning.

Senior [autotag]Jess Mruzik[/autotag] led the Nittany Lions with 26 kills, and former Cornhusker [autotag]Caroline Jurevicius[/autotag] added 20 to power Penn State to its 11th NCAA championship and its first since 2017.

Mruzik was dominant in the fifth set, racking up six kills on eight swings while willing Penn State to the win, keeping the Nittany Lions’ season and her collegiate career alive for one more match.

The win marked Penn State’s second victory over Nebraska after beating them earlier this season. PSU snapped Nebraska’s 103-match winning streak in the postseason when leading 2-0.

Penn State will play the hosts, the Lousiville Cardinals, on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The national championship will air on ABC. A win for the Nittany Lions would mark the eighth title in program history.

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BATTLE CREEK — Jess Mruzik floated the ball over a pair of defenders at Kellogg Arena on Saturday, and when it sailed and dropped to the floor, the Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball team became state champions.

The No. 1-ranked Marlins defeated No. 2-ranked Lowell 3-1 (25-21, 25-12, 23-24, 26-24) in the MHSAA Division I state final.

Mercy finished its historic season 58-1 — the only loss coming in a Sept. 14 matchup against the Red Arrows (55-4), when Mruzik was away from the team to compete with the U.S. U-18 national team at the world championships in Egypt.

The Marlins’ senior outside hitter was dominant in her final outing for Mercy. The 6-foot-2 Miss Volleyball Award winner, who signed her letter of intent with Michigan on Monday, finished with 38 kills — the third-most in finals history during the rally-scoring era.

Farmington Hills Mercy’s Jess Mruzik (33) and Amina Robinson (7) during MHSAA State Finals at Kellogg Arena on Nov. 23, 2019. (Photo: Al Lassen/For the Battle Creek Enquirer)

“We’ve worked so hard throughout this season. I truly believe that we deserve this trophy,” Mruzik said. “Lowell played amazing. They are an amazing team. But I think, in the end, that we’ve been working so hard and have been working toward this goal the entire season and two years prior when we lost here.”

Mercy coach Loretta Vogel, in her 11th year, was the last to pile on the team as it celebrated on the floor of the arena. She brought her entire roster into the post-match news conference to emphasize what a complete team effort it took to win the first championship in program history.

“I think from the beginning, everyone played their roles,” she said. “We didn’t bring anyone up from our JV or freshman team, because it was emphasized that this a very close-knit group.”

Also for the Marlins, junior middle blocker Ellen Tisko had 14 kills; junior setter Julia Bishop had 54 assists, and sophomore defensive specialist Amina Robinson had 22 digs.

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Tag: Jess Mruzik

Penn State volleyball wins five set thriller to advance to NCAA National Championship

With help from Jess Mruzik, Farmington Hills Mercy finishes up dominant volleyball season