COLUMBUS, Ohio - The sixth-seed Penn State Nittany Lions put together a dominant performance from the service line, setting an NCAA Tournament rally-scoring era match record with 11 aces to defeat Conference Carolinas conference champion Belmont Abbey 3-0 to begin the 2021 NCAA Tournament Monday evening at Ohio State's Covelli Center.
With the win, Penn State (22-3) moves on to another Opening Round matchup against the No. 3 seeded Lewis Flyers. That match will be Tuesday, May 4, at 8 p.m.
Brett Wildman tied a career high with four aces to go with his nine kills and Cal Fisher aced three serves with a team-high 10 kills. Penn State (22-3) hit .509 as a team with just four hitting errors on the evening.
Michal Kowal had seven kills without an error plus two aces and a perfect 15-15 mark on serve-receive. Sam Marsh added four kills and two aces of his own, and Cole Bogner led Penn State's offense to its efficient evening with 30 assists and a team-best 4 digs.
Set one was the closest played of the three as the Crusaders hung in with the Nittany Lions to tie the score on multiple occasions, including as late as 20-20, but the winning plays down the stretch went in favor of the Nittany Lions.
After a big kill from Wildman put PSU back ahead 21-20, Kowal ripped an ace to create a two-point margin. Marsh and Wildman teamed up for a block to put Penn State at match point before Fisher scored a kill two rallies later for the 25-22 set victory.
Penn State's offense began to take over in the second set as the Nittany Lions hit .533 with just one error along with five aces combined between Wildman and Fisher. Penn State had little issues in the set winning 25-13 to take a 2-0 lead for the match.
Set three was another dominant frame for the Nittany Lions powered once again by good serving. Marsh had his two aces on back-to-back points to give PSU an eight-point margin at 13-5 and forced a Belmont Abbey timeout.
The Nittany Lions maintained its healthy margin all the way to its first match point at 24-16. After the Crusaders rattled off four points in a row, a service error ended the match in favor of the Nittany Lions 3-0.
The NCAA Tournament victory marks the first for Penn State since the 2015 season when the Nittany Lions defeated Hawaii 3-1 in the Opening Round.
