Dukes Take Set, Fall to No.14 Penn State

Sunday, September 3

University Park, Pa. / Rec Hall

2 p.m.

James Madison University

4-2,0-0Sun Belt

Penn State

3-2,0-0Big Ten

James Madison

Penn St.

9/3/2023 4:37:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – James Madison volleyball, despite taking a set, fell to No.14 Penn State in four sets in the finale of the Penn State Invitational Sunday.

The Dukes fell by scores of 18-25, 25-20, 16-25, and 16-25 and dropped to 4-2 on the season. The 25-20 win in the second set marked the first set taken off the Nittany Lions since Oct. 29, 1977. With the win, Penn State finished the weekend 3-0 and improved to 3-2 on the season.

Miëtte Veldman led JMU with 15 kills on the afternoon. Through six games, the senior leads the Dukes with 82 kills. Senior Elizabeth Helmich finished with eight kills.

Penn State outside hitter Jess Mruzik finished with a match-high 26 kills and hit .339. The two-time All-Big Ten first-teamer also recorded seven digs.

While Penn State outhit the Dukes .277-.130, JMU finished with more blocks (11) and service aces (6). Sophie Davis finished with six blocks for JMU and Helmich and Rebecca Watkins recorded four, along with 35 assists. Through six games, JMU has recorded 10 or more blocks four times.

Jaydyn Clemmer finished with three aces, while Madilyn O'Toole totaled two. As a team, the Dukes have recorded 46 aces in six games (2.0/set).

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set: Penn State 25-18
JMU opened up an early 5-3 lead on two kills from Veldman. The Dukes continued to lean on their defense early in the match, as back-to-back blocks from Sophie Davis and Helmich gave the Dukes an 11-7 lead, their biggest of the set. After a kill from Alex Kwasnik gave the Dukes a 16-14 lead, the Nittany Lions seized control of the set from that point. Penn State scored 11 of the last 13 points of the set to go up 1-0.

Second Set: JMU 25-20
Despite the tough first set loss, the Dukes quickly jumped out to an early lead in the second, as Helmich denial gave the visitors a 4-1 advantage. JMU used the service line to build their lead, as two straight service aces from Madilyn O'Toole extended the Dukes lead to 8-3. Julia McNeley used an ace of her own, which pushed the lead to 15-5, and kill from Veldman and an attacking error from Penn State gave the Dukes a 17-6 lead. However, Jess Mruzik sparked a dormant Penn State offense with four straight kills to pull the home team to 17-11. Behind the home crowd of 2,462, the Nittany Lions scored 13 of the next 15 points and tied the set at 19. After a JMU timeout, the Dukes stymied the Penn State run on a kill from Helmich and another ace from Clemmer to push the lead back to 21-19. JMU continued to silence the raucous crowd, as the visitors ended the set with four straight points, which included two more aces from O'Toole. The Dukes used six aces to hold on and win the set.

Third Set: Penn State 25-16
Penn State jumped out to a 7-4 lead early with a kill by Zoe Weatherington. Despite trailing for most of the frame, the Dukes hung tough with the Nittany Lions through the middle of the set. A kill from Alex Kwasnik tied the frame at 10, but Penn State quickly answered back. A block and two consecutive kills pushed the lead to 16-12, and the Nittany Lions pulled away from there. The Dukes used kills from Helmich and Brenya Reid and an attacking error to pull to within 19-16, but that was all JMU would get for the rest of the set, as Penn State ended the set on a 6-0 run to seize control of the match.

Fourth Set: Penn State 25-16
The Nittany Lions carried their momentum over to the fourth, as three straight kills from Mruzik gave the home team a 7-1 advantage in the blink of an eye. A Reid kill pulled the Dukes to within five at 12-7, but that was as close as the visitors would get as Penn State cruised to the win.

UP NEXT
The Dukes return to the Convocation Center next weekend, Sep. 8-10, for the Erie Invitational. JMU will take on Cal Poly on Friday at 7 p.m., New Hampshire on Saturday at 2 p.m., and will close out the weekend by taking on VCU on Sunday at 2 p.m. All games can be streamed on ESPN Plus.