At Rec Hall, a spot in the Final Four was on the line between No. 1 seed Penn State and No. 2 seed Creighton.

The Blue and White battled and defeated Creighton in a five-set thriller to advance to the Final Four.

The two teams battled back and forth at the start of the game, proving that they are the best teams in the region.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to a commanding lead after a 6-2 run that forced a Creighton timeout with the blue and white leading 13-9.

Camryn Hannah continued the momentum from the timeout behind the service line. She scored two aces while also making a hitting error on her serve to force the Bluejays’ second timeout.

Penn State had a 16-9 lead after the second timeout, bolstered by a 5-0 run.

The Nittany Lions carried the momentum created by a loud Rec Hall into the rest of the set. Another 5-0 run by the Blue-Whites extended the lead to 21:10. It was an all-out attack, with Taylor Trammell, Jess Mruzik and Caroline Jurevicius killing everyone.

A kill from Izzy Starck put the blue and white ahead 24-14. Trammell ended the first set with a powerful kill. Penn State won the first set 25-15.

Serving and blocking held Creighton to just 15 points on .081 hitting. The Nittany Lions also hit five service aces, helping the team to a dominant win in the first set.

The second set started the same as the first, with the score at 6:6.

Creighton’s Jaya Johnson and Norah Sis gave the Bluejays life in the second set with two kills each, giving the team an 11-9 lead. The Bluejays held the lead until the media timeout with a batting average of .400 at halftime of Set 2.

The momentum came from the media timeout, with kills from Johnson and Ava Martin forcing a Penn State timeout.

A 6-0 Creighton outscoring forced Penn State coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to use the team’s final timeout while the Nittany Lions trailed 23-15.

A Martin kill followed by an ace from Maddy Bilinovic gave the Bluejays a 25-16 win in the second set. The Bluejays posted a batting average of .500 in the second set, helping the team to a commanding set win.

The teams battled for the lead to open the third set before Creighton went on a 3-0 run to put the team up 5-3.

Another 3-0 run by the Bluejays followed, giving them their first notable lead of the third set at 8-4.

Both teams traded points in the third set, with Creighton never relinquishing the lead.

Momentum began to shift slightly to Penn State’s side. A 6:2 run equalized the set at 20:20.

Supported by the whiteout crowd, the Nittany Lions extended their run to 9:3 and took a lead of 23:21, only two points away from winning the third set.

A powerful swing from Mruzik gave the blue-whites a 24:22 lead.

Mruzik took the set away and sent Rec Hall into a frenzy as Penn State took a 2-1 lead with a 25-22 win in Set 3.

A complete turnaround in the set as the Nittany Lions trailed 18-14 but took the set win.

Similar to the previous three sets, the start of the fourth set was an argument over which team would concede first.

A 3-0 run by Creighton extended the lead to 10-6 after several errors by Penn State. Penn State responded later in the set with a 3-0 run behind Ava Falduto’s serve.

The Bluejays came right back with a 3-0 run to take an 18-14 lead, forcing Schumacher-Cawley to call a timeout.

Creighton didn’t want to give up the lead in the fourth set when Johnson killed the set and forced a fifth set.

In the fourth set the blow was not favorable for either team. Creighton won the set despite hitting .077. Penn State also didn’t hit well, with a batting average of .107.

The fifth set was a testament to the entire game. Both teams traded points until a 3-0 run, aided by a Jurevicius kill and a Mruzik block, extended the lead in the final set to 6-3, just 15 points.

With the entire Rec Hall on its feet, a powerful Hannah swing and a hitting error gave Penn State another 3-0 run and a 9-4 lead.

After a Creighton point, the Nittany Lions responded with their third 3-0 run in the fifth set and took a commanding lead 12-5.

The fourth 3-0 run of the shortened set ended the game. Trammell finished the game with a kill, giving Penn State a 3-2 win and a trip to Louisville to the Final Four.

Next

Penn State will travel to Louisville to face No. 3 Nebraska in the Final Four.

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