Penn State tops Nebraska in the Final Four

For the first time in a decade, Penn State will play for the NCAA women’s volleyball championship, and the Nittany Lions needed a sensational showing against Nebraska on Thursday to get there.

USA’s Jess Mruzik had 26 kills, including six in the fifth-set tiebreaker, spurring the Nittany Lions (34-2) to victory in the five-set match after losing the first two to the Cornhuskers (33-3).

Nebraska coach John Cook praised Mruzik’s play as one of the best he had ever seen from an outside hitter.

In a national semifinal that took place Friday morning and featured two nearly identical teams and Big Ten co-champions, it only made sense for second overall seed Nebraska and third overall seed Penn State to reach five sets . However, the Nittany Lions also had to fend off two match points in the fourth set to force the decisive fifth set. They are 5-0 in tiebreakers this season, including one against Creighton in the regional final.

Caroline Jurevicius contributed 20 kills in the win and Camryn Hannah had 16.

Jurevicius, the daughter of former Penn State star and 11-year NFL wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, said the game was symbolic of the team’s “dog it out” mentality. It’s a phrase she reminded her teammates of during a critical moment in the fourth set.

“I looked at every single one of my teammates, gave them a little nudge and said, ‘We’re doing this.’ “We are persistent,” she said. “Whether they had enough of me or not, I thought it worked.”

At first it looked like the Cornhuskers, who had lost just one set in their four previous tournament games, would quickly take on their Big Ten rivals and reach their third title game in four years.

Andi Jackson, first-team All-American for Nebraska, prevailed in the first set. With the Nittany Lions leading 23-21, the 6-foot-2 sophomore recorded three kills as the Cornhuskers scored the final four points to take the set. Jackson had six of her career-high 19 kills in the set.

In the second set, the Huskers eroded Penn State’s 5-4 lead by scoring 11 of the next 14 points. Jackson had three kills during the run, but Nebraska also dominated at the net.

The No. 10 team in the country in blocks per set (2.79) scored four during the run. Rebekah Allick had a solo and assisted Taylor Landfair on the remaining three to secure the second set, which the Huskers won 25-18.

At that point, Mruzik, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter, took over. She had just six kills in the first two sets.

With the season on the line, Penn State scored five straight goals to take a 13-10 lead in the third set. That lead grew to 20-16 before Nebraska rallied and scored four of the next five goals. The Cornhuskers cut the deficit to one two more times before Penn State won 25-23.

After making seven attack errors in the first two sets, Penn State didn’t have a single one in the third. Jurevicius had six kills in the set.

The fourth set was typical of the game in general, a back-and-forth affair that saw the Cornhuskers take an 18-15 lead after trailing 14-11. Nebraska’s lead grew to 22-16 before the Nittany Lions staged a comeback and saved their season. They survived two match points and finally took the set on the fourth attempt when Hannah’s kill tied the game at 28-26.

For a moment, it looked like Nebraska would win 25-23 after a Mruzik attack went wide. ESPN camera crews and Cornhuskers reserves ran to the ground, but officials ruled it bounced off a Nebraska blocker.

“She turned this team around and made some great plays,” Cook said. “That was one of them there. We thought we had it figured out, but she did a great job of getting us to grips with it.”

Nebraska got the first point in the fifth set, but that was the only lead in the tiebreaker. Penn State took a 5-2 lead and a Mruzik kill made it 12-8. The Cornhuskers rallied to get within 14-13, but Hannah ended the game with a kill and started the celebration.

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