LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jess Mruzik had 26 kills, Caroline Jurevicius had 20 and Penn State rallied from an 0-2 semifinal hole for a five-set victory over Nebraska early Friday to reach the NCAA championship.
Penn State will face host Louisville, which eliminated No. 1 overall seed Pitt 3-1 in the first semifinal, and set up a historic NCAA final between two women coaches. Katie Schumacher-Cawley guides the Nittany Lions, while Dani Busboom-Kelly leads the Cardinals.
The Nittany Lions (34-2) first had to get up off the mat for their 11th consecutive win after dropping the first two sets 23-25 and 25-18 in their first Final Four since 2017. They climbed back to win the next two 25-23 and 28-26 — fighting off several match points in the fourth — and force a fifth set against their Big Ten rivals, then gutted out a 15-13 victory before a mostly red-clad crowd of 21,726, a semifinal attendance record.
“I thought we were making one too many errors and we didn’t look too confident,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “We came out after that and focused on our serve, our serve-pass game got better and we found ways to score defensively. … We were just scrapping for every point we could get.”
Camryn Hannah’s kill, set up by Izzy Starck, sealed it and sparked a late-night celebration after a marathon match.
Harper Murray had 20 kills and Andi Jackson 19 for Nebraska (33-3), which sought to return to the championship after last year’s runner-up finish to Texas. The Cornhuskers had won five in a row since losing 3-1 to Penn State three weeks ago in the lone regular-season meeting. Three sweeps highlighted the streak, including 3-0 over Wisconsin in the regional final. The Huskers sought their first title since winning in 2017.
“I thought we put ’em away in game four and they found a way to win that game and carry a lot of momentum into game five,” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “Tremendous performance by Jess. She hit some shots we had no answer for.”
Mruzik, whose 579 points ranked 23rd nationally coming in, registered 27.5 points with 70 attacks. Starck had 56 assists while Gillian Grimes recorded 25 digs for Penn State.
The first set featured 10 ties and six lead changes, with Nebraska scoring four unanswered points to erase a 23-21 deficit. Andi Jackson sandwiched three kills around a service ace by Merritt Beason, including the final two points of a tense opener.
The Huskers wiped out 3-0 hole in the second set with four consecutive points before a later 5-0 spurt for a 16-8 cushion on the way to a comfortable victory before Penn State found its resolve.
Gary B. Graves, The Associated Press
