Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M recruited the AVCA High School All- American out of Nation Ford High in Fort Mill, S.C. "She's an exceptional player, and she's a great person," Schumacher-Cawley said. "I really enjoyed her the first time around. "We got on the phone with her pretty quick [when she entered the portal]. I think she only had a couple places that she really wanted to look at, and we were one of them. We had her and her family on campus, and the rest is history. We'll see what she's got this year." In a vote of the league's coaches, Penn State was picked to finish second in the Big Ten. Nebraska was chosen as the favorite, and the Cornhuskers will be looking to even the score with PSU after the Nittany Lions rallied from two sets down to defeat them, 3-2, in the NCAA Tournament semifinals last December. Starck had a season-high 56 assists in that instant-classic contest, helping the Lions hold off match point in the fourth set and surge to a 15-13 victory in the fifth. Two days later, she totaled 55 assists and 13 digs — her 18th double- double of the year — in a 3-1 win over Louisville for the national title. Having seen the work that Starck put in over the course of the campaign, her teammates were gratified with the pay- off. "Everyone dreams of having a fresh- man season like Izzy did, but she de- served it," Grimes said. "She works so hard. I expect nothing less of her throughout this season, too. She's al- ways in the gym, always grinding. She's such a great teammate. She's just really fun to have in my life." Grimes and Starck will be teaming up again this fall and are eager to see what they and their teammates can do for an encore. Their chemistry is potent, but they still have to prove it on the court all over again. "Everything that happened last sea- son doesn't carry over into this sea- son," Starck said. "Everyone starts with a zero-zero record, and I'm just see- ing how I can adapt to the changes this year." ■ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Maggie Men- delson, a senior middle blocker on the Penn State women's volleyball team, will suit up for Lady Lion basketball squad this coming season. Mendelson is set to become Penn State's first two-sport athlete since Mac Hippenhammer played football and baseball in 2018-19. Before transferring to PSU ahead of the 2024 season, Mendelson played vol- leyball and basketball at Nebraska. She averaged 2.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 22 games with the Cornhuskers. "Competing in two sports at this level takes a special kind of athlete, and we're excited to see her bring that same grit and drive to the court with us," Penn State women's basketball coach Carolyn Kieger said. Coming out of Freemont High in Ogden, Utah, in 2022, the 6-foot-6 Mendelson was the No. 32 overall recruit and No. 6 post player in the nation, per ESPN HoopGurlz. The Lady Lions made another recent addition when they welcomed Swiss guard Viktoria Ranisavljevic to their backcourt. Ranisavljevic has been playing for her homeland's national teams since she was 13. Earlier this year, she averaged 6.7 points and 1.2 assists in six games at the EuroBasket tournament. It was her first competition as a member of Switzerland's Senior National Team. BASEBALL: A school-record-tying five Nittany Lions were chosen in the Major League Baseball Draft in July. Junior outfielder Paxton Kling was the first to go after leading Penn State in batting average (.358) and slugging percentage (.632) this past spring. The Texas Rangers selected him in the seventh round with the 205th overall pick. Kling was followed by junior shortstop Ryan Weingartner (St. Louis Cardinals, eighth round, 240th), junior pitcher Ryan DeSanto (Cleveland Guardians, 12th round, 372nd), junior pitcher Chase Renner (Miami Marlins, 13th round, 378th) and redshirt sophomore third baseman Bryce Molinaro (Washington Nationals, 17th round, 501st). The Nittany Lions tied Oregon for the most selections from a Big Ten team. The only other year in which Penn State had five players chosen was 2007. WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY: Forward Brianna Brooks and defender Lyndie Lobdell were both selected by expansion teams in the Professional Women's Hockey League Draft in June. Brooks went to Vancouver in the fourth round, 32nd overall, while Lobdell went eight picks later, in the fifth round, to Seattle. Brooks and Lobdell are the first Penn State players to be drafted into the PWHL, an eight- team league that is set to begin its third season this fall. TRACK AND FIELD: Darrell Hill, a three-time All-American at Penn State and a 2016 Olympian, is returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach. Hill, who graduated from PSU in 2015 and still owns the school's indoor shot put record (20.51 meters), began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at San Diego State and spent the past two years on Delaware's staff. The Philadelphia native will work with PSU's throwers. "Being from PA, he will help us keep the best from PA here at home," head coach John Gondak said. "We're looking forward to having Darrell join us here in Happy Valley and continue his legacy as a Nittany Lion." — Matt Herb O L Y M P I C S P O R T S N O T E B O O K Maggie Mendelson is planning to play volleyball and bas- ketball in 2025-26. She was the No. 32 overall basketball prospect in the 2022 class, per ESPN HoopGurlz. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS