CHARLESTON, W.V. – The eighth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team won its 34th conference regular season championship in program history after defeating Charleston in 3-0 fashion Friday evening.
Penn State (18-3, 15-2 EIVA) clinched the top overall seed in the upcoming EIVA Tournament for the first time since 2017 with the win and will host the 2021 postseason conference semifinals and championship at Rec Hall April 22 and 24.
The Nittany Lions aced their way to the win with 13 team aces, the most they've had in a three-set match this season and tying their season-high output (Feb. 20 at Sacred Heart).
Cal Fisher had four of those aces while Cole Bogner had three. Seven different Nittany Lions scored on at least one serve for the match.
Brett Wildman had 10 kills without an error on 14 swings (.714) along with two aces and four digs. Bogner had a team-best seven digs to go with his 25 assists and led the Nittany Lions to a .463 hitting percentage for the match.
Penn State also had 6.0 team blocks to Charleston's (4-11, 4-11 EIVA) 2.0, which played a part in holding the Golden Eagles' offense to a .016 team hitting percentage.
In the first set, PSU did not commit a hitting error and went 10-12 on side-out opportunities to take the first set, 25-12. Sam Marsh had five block assists in the opening frame and Wildman was 4-4 on his attacking chances to power the Nittany Lions to the set win.
Another quick start in the second set allowed the Nittany Lions to take control on their way to a second-set win. An 9-2 run for the Nittany Lions forced a Charleston timeout, but the Golden Eagles never pulled the margin close than seven points for the remainder of the set and Penn State won 25-16.
The Nittany Lions doubled-up UC 8-4 in the third set to force another timeout by the home team, but this time the Golden Eagles clawed back with a 4-1 run to trail 9-8.
Penn State slowly built its margin back up to three at 14-11 when Bogner went to the service line and went on a five-point service run including two aces from the junior setter to take a commanding 19-12 lead. PSU went on to win 25-15.
MATCH NOTES AND STATS
- Penn State last won the EIVA regular season championship in 2017. The Nittany Lions also won their last EIVA Tournament title and appeared in their last NCAA tournament that season.
- Wildman's .714 hitting percentage was a career single-match best, breaking his previous record of .667 (10-0-15) set early this season March 6, also against Charleston.
- The Nittany Lions are two wins shy of reaching 20 for the season, also last achieved in the 2017 season. Penn State's 18-3 record is its best record in 21 matches since the 2008 national championship season when the Nittany Lions started 20-1 on its way to a 30-1 season.
- With the modified 6-team field for the 2021 EIVA Tournament, Penn State receives a bye to a semifinal round. For more general information on this year's tournament, visit the 2021 EIVA Tournament page and look for more information on GoPSUsports.com in the near future.
NEXT UP
Penn State finishes the regular season against Charleston Saturday evening at 7 p.m.