Penn State women’s volleyball wins 2024 national championship, eighth in program history

Penn State was No. 1 among number ones.

In front of a decidedly red crowd at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday afternoon, the Nittany Lions defeated Louisville, 3-1 (25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17), in the NCAA Division I volleyball championship, to win their eighth national title.

The result pulled Penn State within one of NCAA leader Stanford (nine) in championship count.

The Nittany Lions (35-2) ended what had been their longest drought between national titles. After former head coach Russ Rose guided the program to its first in 1999, it took until 2007 for Penn State to claim its second. That was the first of four straight before a two-year break, after which the Nittany Lions went back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.

It’s Penn State’s first title under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who took the reins from Rose following his retirement after the 2021 season. Schumacher-Cawley, who was part of the program’s first national title as a player, became the first female coach to win a Division I volleyball title.

“Someone asked, is it better as a player or as a coach?” Schumacher-Cawley said. “Like I said, I just like to win, and I like to compete, and I like to help our players be the best they can. This is pretty cool, though, as a coach. It’s pretty neat.”

All four No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA tournament advanced to the semifinals, which were played on Thursday. Louisville, the fourth overall seed, upset top-ranked Pittsburgh to make its second championship game appearance. Penn State, the third overall seed, overcame a 2-0 deficit against Nebraska in the semifinals to advance to its 11th title bout.

The Cardinals (30-6) lost to Texas their only previous trip in 2022.

“The standard at Penn State is winning national championships,” Jess Mruzik said. “That’s how it’s always been. That’s what Coach Rose instilled, and that’s what we try to uphold every single day. Yeah, this is like a dream come true, but when you come to Penn State, you’re a Penn Stater for life, and the ultimate goal is winning a national championship.”

Mruzik was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after posting 29 kills in the final match, less than three days after putting up 26 against the Cornhuskers. She’s one of several Penn State standouts who joined the fold after starting their career elsewhere in the college ranks; Mruzik, a fifth-year graduate student, entered the program ahead of last season, arriving by way of her home-state school, Michigan.

Louisville rival Anna DeBeer, also a fifth-year grad student, signed with her hometown team out of high school and remained, but wasn’t able to play for the Cardinals on Sunday after suffering a right ankle sprain against Pittsburgh. Both this week were named AVCA All-Americans.

“Anna and I are great friends off the court,” Mruzik said. “We did have a similar journey, committing to your hometown place. Obviously I made the change, and one of the best changes and decisions I ever made in my life was to come to Penn State. I really feel for her. I know she’s an ultimate competitor as well, and to see her go down in the semifinal, like I was sick to my stomach because I know that, if she could play, like she definitely would. She definitely would even if she could barely walk.”

Penn State’s path back to glory

The Nittany Lions had not advanced to a region final under Schumacher-Cawley before this season. In 2022, they won their first two NCAA tournament games at home before falling at Wisconsin in the region semifinal. Last season, Penn State didn’t get to host first- and-second round games but got through only to fall again at Wisconsin in the same round.

Losing that early — and not hosting early-round games — is far from the expectation in Happy Valley. While the start of this season was promising — the Nittany Lions were 8-0 with three top-15 wins (including Louisville, ranked fourth overall then as they were in the final seeding) — a 3-0 sweep at the hands of No. 1 Pittsburgh was “eye-opening.”

“They put it to us in that match, but for us, I thought it was a great learning experience for a lot of the younger players who haven’t played in an atmosphere like that,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “We learned from it, and I think it got us ready for Big Ten season, and I think we really kind of took off from there.”

Penn State went 19-1 in Big Ten action, falling at Wisconsin (the Badgers bowed out to Nebraska in the NCAA Tournament region finals). A victory over Nebraska gave the Nittany Lions the conference’s automatic NCAA bid by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker, but ultimately they were seeded third overall in the tournament behind the Cornhuskers.

That was a big motivator going into Thursday and a sea of red — largely Louisville fans, but an ample amount celebrating Nebraska as well — that wanted to devour all-comers from the northeast. Pittsburgh succumbed to the home squad, but Penn State rallied for an improbable comeback.

It showed resolve again on Sunday. After claiming a close first set, Penn State seemed like it would cruise to a win in the second after building a 17-10 advantage. Louisville pulled to within a point, 19-18, but Penn State responded with five of the next six points to force set point at 24-19. Then Louisville reeled off five straight points to stay in it.

All told, the Nittany Lions had 10 chances at set point — evading a few by the Cardinals in the process — before dropping the game, 34-32. It was highest scoring set in NCAA finals history, and a possible big swing for the Cardinals — if it didn’t wear them down.

“I really didn’t feel like it took a lot out of our team,” Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “... It was an incredible game. I thought it gave us momentum. Unfortunately, that didn’t show on the scoreboard.”

Penn State kept a similar Louisville at bay in set three before taking full control of the match in set four. The Nittany Lions built a 10-2 lead in the final frame and never afforded the Cardinals a breath of life.

Camryn Hannah, a grad student who began her career at Clemson and joined Penn State in 2023, delivered the winning kill. She was mobbed immediately as star-shaped confetti fell from the rafters.

“I think it’s special, but I wouldn’t put the whole game in that one kill because for me, I struggled during that game,” Hannah said. “I had to look at my teammates and be like, ‘I need your help.’

“That’s what I’ll remember the most. Not the kills or the stats that we had individually, but the moments they had my back, because that was really big for me. That’s what I was looking for when I came here, and I got it.”

Notes

• Schumacher-Cawley is battling breast cancer and was asked after the game about being an inspiration, both as a woman and someone battling the disease, to the likely millions watching at home on ABC. “I’m inspired by the young kids that are sick,” she said. “I’m doing treatment at UPenn, and every time I walk in the hospital, I walk right past the children’s hospital. Sure, if I can be an inspiration to someone, then I take that, but I feel good, and I’m lucky to have the people around me. I think that’s why we’re successful.”

• Including the sidelined DeBeer, Sunday’s showdown featured six future Pro Volleyball Federation players. DeBeer was selected second overall by Indy Ignite, which also drafted Louisville teammate Elena Scott (second round, ninth overall) and Penn State’s Taylor Trammell (third round, 20th overall). Penn State’s Hannah was the fourth overall pick, selected by the Vegas Thrill. U of L’s Charitie Luper, who finished with a team-high 21 kills, was selected soon after Trammell in the third round by Vegas. The Grand Rapids Rise selected Mruzik with the last pick of the 40-player draft.

• An announced record crowd of 21,860 fans attended this year’s NCAA championship.

• Penn State lost its first three appearances in the NCAA championship (1993, 1997, 1998). It’s 8-0 since.