Jessica Ann Mruzik (born June 15, 2002) is an American professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player for LOVB Houston. She played college volleyball for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

and the Penn State Nittany Lions, which she led to the 2024 national championship. She was named first-team All- Big Ten four times and first-team AVCA All-American in her championship season.

Early life

Mruzik was raised in

Livonia, Michigan Livonia ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Livonia is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 95,535. Originally organized as ...

, the daughter of Jeff and Jackie Mruzik. She began playing volleyball as a fourth grader. She wanted to play for the

from an early age and was a ball girl for the team in middle school. She attended Mercy High School in

Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Farmington Hills is located roughly from downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States censu ...

, being named all-state all four years. In her senior year in 2019, she led Mercy to go 59–1 and win the Michigan state title and was named the national Gatorade Player of the Year. She played club volleyball for Legacy Volleyball Club, winning the AAU under-18 national championship in 2018.

College career

Mruzik's freshman season with the

was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020. In the spring season, she hit 3.54 kills per set on an .157 hitting percentage, being named to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

all-freshman team as Michigan went 4–9. In her sophomore season, she hit 3.57 kills per set on .244 hitting with a career-high 2.52 digs per set, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors. She helped Michigan improve to 18–12 and qualify for the NCAA tournament. She averaged 3.68 kills on .240 hitting with 2.34 digs per set in her junior season, repeating as first-team All-Big Ten, as Michigan went 17–13 and missed the NCAA tournament. After three seasons in Ann Arbor, Mruzik transferred to the seven-time national champion Penn State Nittany Lions in 2023. Her production of 4.40 kills per set was the second best mark in program history, and she hit .251 with 2.29 digs per set, earning first-team All-Big Ten and second-team AVCA All-American honors. Penn State went 23–9, reaching the third round of the NCAA tournament. In her fifth season of eligibility, granted to college athletes because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she made 4.25 kills per set with career highs of 0.256 hitting, 2.37 digs, and 0.40 assists per set, earning first-team All-Big 12 and first-team All-American honors. She captained Penn State to finish the season 35–2, taking a share of the Big Ten regular-season title and winning the 2024 national championship, the program's eighth national title and first since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In the national semifinals, she made a game-high 26 kills as Penn State pulled off a reverse sweep against

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. In the national title game, she tied her season high with 29 kills on .315 hitting, made 14 digs, and tied her career high with 5 blocks in a 3–1 win against

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. She was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

Professional career

Mruzik joined LOVB Houston for LOVB Pro's inaugural 2025 season.

International career

Mruzik led the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship, where she was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

References

External links

Penn State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mruzik, Jess Living people 2002 births Sportspeople from Livonia, Michigan Outside hitters American women's volleyball players Michigan Wolverines women's volleyball players Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball players 21st-century American sportswomen LOVB Houston players