Penn State rallies from 2-set deficit to beat Nebraska in NCAA volleyball, faces Louisville in Final
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 to reach the NCAA championship
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jess Mruzik had 26 kills, Caroline Jurevicius had 20 and Penn State rallied from an 0-2 semifinal deficit 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 female coaches. Katie Schumacher-Cawley guides the Nittany Lions, while Dani Busboom-Kelly leads the Cardinals.
The Nittany Lions (34-2) had to get off the mat for their 11th consecutive win after dropping the first two sets 25-23 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. They 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."
