Penn State wins NCAA women's volleyball championship, makes history with head coach

Penn State is back on top of women's college volleyball.

With a four-set win Sunday afternoon, No. 1 Penn State defeated No. 1 Louisville inside the KFC Yum! Arena in Louisville, Kentucky to win the 2024 NCAA Div. I women's volleyball national championship. The Nittany Lions defeated the Cardinals 25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17. Camryn Hannah sealed the championship win for the Nittany Lions with a kill straight up the middle of the floor.

It's a historic win by the Nittany Lions, as Penn State coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman head coach to win a Div. I volleyball championship in NCAA history.

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"There have been so many before me and that have paved the way for me," Schumacher-Cawley said in an interview on ESPN after the feat. "I'm so grateful and hopefully there will be more in the future that will want to coach and be a part of it."

It's the Nittany Lions eighth national championship – second most in NCAA volleyball history – and their first in over a decade.

Sunday's national championship also set a new NCAA Division I volleyball national championship attendance record of 21,860 spectators in attendance per the NCAA.

Despite hitting .003 worse than Louisville in Set 1, Penn State took the opener by a score of 25-23 on a service ace from Nittany Lions graduate outside hitter Jess Mruzik.

The Nittany Lions looked to have been on their way to a 2-0 lead late in the second set but were unable to put it away, despite having 10 set-point opportunities. A big reason for that was Louisville outside hitter Payton Peterson, who recorded three aces in the set alone and started in place of injured senior Anna DeBeer. Louisville would take the set 34-32 on a combo block from Diaz Maldonado and Hannah Sherman.

That'd be the lone set Penn State would give up on the afternoon, taking Set 3 and Set 4 by scores of 25-20 and 25-17, respectively. Penn State hit .277 on the day, while Louisville hit .196.

Leading the way for Penn State was Mruzik, who finished with 29 kills, 14 digs and five blocks, while hitting .315 on the afternoon. Mruzik was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after Sunday's game, as shown on ESPN's broadcast.

Sunday's national championship victory also puts an emotional ending to the season on many levels for Schumacher-Cawley, who is dealing with Stage 2 breast cancer. Schumacher-Cawley, who is in her third season leading the Nittany Lions, was diagnosed in September and began undergoing treatment in October, when she made her diagnosis public.

En route to the national championship, Penn State had to reverse sweep Big Ten foe Nebraska in the national semifinals on Thursday after losing the first and second sets. The Nittany Lions also picked up wins over Delaware State, North Carolina, Marquette and Creighton in the NCAA tournament.

Penn State ends the season on a 12-game winning streak and 35-2 overall.

(This story was updated with a new photo)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Penn State wins NCAA women's volleyball championship, beats Louisville