Penn State Volleyball Overcomes Kansas in a 5-Set Thriller to Advance in NCAA Championship

The women’s team of Penn State Volleyball battled the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round of their NCAA playoffs. Both teams clashed hard against each other, as there was no clear winner until the end. However, after a nail-biting match, the Nittany Lions ended up as the winning side.

Penn State Volleyball found itself in an almost-losing encounter against the Kansas Jayhawks. Both teams put on a formidable display of volleyball to make it to the next round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. In fact, it took both teams a grueling five sets to reach the conclusion.

Penn State Volleyball takes a Herculean victory

Penn State Volleyball declared the result of the back-and-forth match via an Instagram post as its women’s team stole the win from Kansas. The post carried the caption, “Fought like a lion.” The Nittany Lions didn’t know they would have to hang in the balance for what seemed like an eternity against their opponents.

The Kansas Jayhawks and the Nittany Lions are established powerhouse teams in the NCAA, and both played a fitting playoff match against each other. The crowd held their breaths as both teams kept neutralizing the efforts of the others. Both teams kept taking swings at each other to the very end, as Penn State won with the scores of 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 13-25, and 15-13.

The fourth set had every Penn State Volleyball fan in worry, as it seemed like the Lions had lost their steam. But, the duo of Jess Mruzik and Mac Podraza worked their magic to save Penn State once again, as Kansas lost when the dust settled.

Lions’ power duo’s phenomenal performance

The Kansas Jayhawks deserved to take the win as much as the women’s team of Penn State Volleyball on 1 December. Reagan Cooper of the Jayhawks soared through the volleyball court as she scored a whopping 29 kills against Penn State.

However, her stellar playoff performance hit a roadblock against Penn State’s Jess Mruzik and Mac Podraza. Jess Mruzik led the offensive charge for Penn State as she secured 21 valuable kills. On the other hand, Mac Podraza ensured proper ball movement throughout the match and posted a staggering 52 assists in the game. 

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Podraza distributed the attack of the Lions between Jess Mruzik, Camryn Hannah, and Zoe Weatherington to constantly keep Kansas on its toes. Hannah and Weatherington also added to the kills for Penn State Volleyball as they scored 17 and 10 kills respectively. Will this power duo be able to bring the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship home for Penn State?

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