Dukes Hang Tough, Fall to No. 3 Penn State

Friday, September 20

University Park, Pa.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

5-4,0-0Sun Belt

Penn State

9-1,0-0Big Ten

James Madison

Penn St.

9/20/2024 8:25:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – James Madison volleyball battled back and forth with No. 3 Penn State but ultimately fell to the Nittany Lions in three sets (20-25, 20-25, 19-25) on Friday evening at Rec Hall to open the Penn State Classic.

JMU fell to 5-4 while the third-ranked Nittany Lions improved to 9-1.

Annie Smith finished with nine kills on 18 swings (.500) while registering three blocks in the middle. Miëtte Veldman finished with eight kills and two digs, while the setter duo of Rebecca Watkins (12) and Grace Wenrich (11) recorded double-digit assists.

Camryn Hannah and Jess Mruzik each toted 13 kills to lead Penn State, while setter Izzy Starck recorded 35 assists. Maggie Mendelson finished with five blocks, as PSU held JMU to a .139 hitting percentage.

How It Happened
First Set: Penn State 25-20

After a back-and-forth start, Penn State scored five straight to take a 13-7 lead on a service ace from Mruzik.
The Dukes battled back from an 18-13 deficit, scoring three straight with kills from Sarah Schnell, a block from Ayen Nhial, and an ace from Smith to make the score 18-16.
An ace from Watkins cut the Nittany Lions lead to one (20-19), but the home team scored four of the last five points of the set to come away with the victory.

Second Set: Penn State 25-20

The Nittany Lions jumped ahead first, rattling off four points in a row to take an 11-7 lead on a kill from Izzy Starck.
A kill from Smith cut the deficit to two (14-12), but two consecutive kills from Caroline Jurevicius pushed the lead back to 16-12.
The Dukes cut the Penn State lead to three on multiple occasions, but the Nittany Lions rattled off two straight kills to take the second.

Third Set: Penn State 25-19

Penn State jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, which forced a JMU timeout. The Nittany Lions extended their lead to 7-1 before the Dukes broke the rally with a Veldman kill.
After going down 8-2, JMU used a 5-2 run to pull within three (10-7).
The Dukes came back to tie the set at 14-14 on a kill from Veldman.
The Nittany Lions pulled ahead 22-18 on a solo block from Mruzik.
PSU finished off the Dukes in the third on a kill from Mendelson.

Match Notes

Through nine matches, Annie Smith leads the Dukes with 45.0 blocks (1.29 per set)
Ayen Nhial picked up four more blocks and now has 22 this season (1.83 per set)
Jaydyn Clemmer picked up nine digs and now has 1,143 in her career.

Up Next
JMU returns to action tomorrow morning with an 11 a.m. match against Yale. The match will stream on BTN+.