Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1538407
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 5 47 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M I zzy Starck could hardly have asked for a better start to her college volleyball career. For the elite recruit, there was no years-long trudge to the mountaintop, no waiting around for the requisite dues to be paid before she could get on the court. Rather, her debut as a member of the Penn State women's volleyball team was one smashing success after another. First, Starck won the team's start- ing setter position ahead of the season opener in August. Then she claimed Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors six times en route to winning the league's Freshman of the Year award. Later, she was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association's National Fresh- man of the Year and was a second-team All-American. And then, to cap it off, she guided the Nittany Lions to their first national championship since 2014. Starck's reward for all that stellar work is an even bigger challenge in 2025: re- peating as national champion. "I had a season that I could never have dreamed of," she said. "Going into this new season, I set my expectations for where I want to be, how I can be bet- ter, how I can be a better teammate. Just looking at the season ahead of me, I'm excited to see how successful our team can be and how I can accomplish even more. It's a whole new fresh start." Starck, who came to Penn State as PrepVolleyball.com's No. 1 recruit in the country, will be one of the keys to the Nittany Lions' title defense. A year ago, she totaled 1,483 assists, the most by a PSU player since the start of the rally- scoring era in 2008. Her steady play helped the Nittany Lions finish 35-2 overall and 19-1 in the Big Ten, with the latter record good for a share of the con- ference championship. There's some significant carryover from that team, with senior libero Gil- lian Grimes, redshirt sophomore out- side hitter Caroline Jurevicius and se- nior middle blocker Maggie Mendelson joining Starck in the lineup. Grimes and Starck were both named to the preseason All-Big Ten team in July. There have also been some key losses. Outside hitter Jess Mruzik is gone after winning first-team All-America notice and claiming Most Outstanding Player honors at the NCAA Championship. Gone, too, are a pair of the stars from Penn State's title run, middle blocker Taylor Trammell and outside hitter Camryn Hannah. To help counterbalance those losses, the Nittany Lions made one of the big- gest transfer acquisitions of the off- season, landing junior right-side hitter Kennedy Martin in May. During her two seasons at Florida, the 6-foot-6 Martin twice won All-America honors, and she led the nation with an average of 6.28 points per set as a sophomore. In July, she was named a unanimous preseason All-Big Ten honoree. Head coach Katie Schumacher-Caw- ley said Penn State had a longstand- ing relationship with Martin, having Setting The Tone Izzy Starck spearheads Penn State's bid to defend its NCAA Tournament championship M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M OLYMPIC SPORTS Last season, Starck totaled a school-record 1,483 assists as a true freshman and was named the AVCA National Freshman of the Year. PHOTO BY MEGAN SMARKUSKY/PENN STATE ATHLETICS