UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Cal Fisher hit .429 with 13 kills and nine digs in his season debut to lift No. 4 Penn State to a 3-1 (30-28, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18) win over No. 10 USC in a non-conference men's volleyball match Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 7-1 overall, while the Trojans fell to 6-3.
Penn State's win was a part of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge. No. 2 UCLA opened the event with a 3-1 win over No. 13 Ohio State. USC and Ohio State will play Saturday at 4 p.m., while Penn State and UCLA will play at 7 p.m.
Fisher subbed in with the Lions trailing 17-14 in the opening set and made a near immediate impact with a kill that cut the deficit to one. He added two more kills, one ace and three digs in the set to help the Lions get the important early win.
"It's always nice to be able to sub an All-American off the bench for a player (John Kerr) that has been putting up All-American numbers so far this season," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said.
Brett Wildman led Penn State with 16 kills and just missed a double-double with nine kills in addition to his two aces. His second kill of the first set gave him 1,000 for his career. He is the 22nd player in program history to reach the milestone and the first since Aaron Russell (2012-15).
Michal Kowal had a big match in the win, hitting .429 with 11 kills, two aces and five digs. Cole Bogner posted a double-double with 44 assists and 12 digs. Other individual highlights included Toby Ezeonu with seven kills and three blocks, Owen Rose with five kills and three blocks, and Ryan Merk with five digs and five assists.
Penn State played an opponent ranked in the top-10 of the AVCA Coaches Poll for the fourth straight match and improved to 3-1 in those contests. The Lions are 4-1 against nationally-ranked opponents this season.
The win was the 635th of head coach Mark Pavlik's career, tying him for fourth on the NCAA Division I-!! all-time wins list. He is the leader amongst active coaches.
Set 1
Penn State trailed 17-14 before Fisher entered and helped tie the score with a 3-0 run that was capped by a Wildman ace. The Lions tied the score again at 20-20 on a Fisher ace and eventually gave themselves a chance at set point at 24-22 following a kill by Ezeonu. They had chances at set point with leads of 25-24 and 26-25 before USC scored back-to-back points to go up 27-26. Fisher kept the Lions alive with a kill, and Ezeonu did the same with a kill that tied the score at 28-28. The set went to Penn State 30-28 thanks to back-to-back attack errors by the Trojans with Fisher at the service line. Wildman and Ezeonu had four kills apiece in the first set. Bogner nearly had a double-double in the first set alone, racking up 15 assists and eight digs.
Set 2
Late-set heroics weren't needed in the second set as Penn State went up 13-12 on an ace by Fisher and never trailed again in the 25-20 win. Wildman had two kills in the final five Penn State points, as did Fisher, including the final for set point. Fisher was perfect on the attack in the set with six kills on six swings. Wildman hit .500 with six kills. Bogner tallied 11 assists and led the Lions to .609 hitting.
Set 3
Penn State started strong in the third set, jumping out to a 9-4 lead. USC quickly battled back to take a 14-13 advantage. From there it was back-and-forth action with neither team leading by more than two points the rest of the way. A kill by Fisher tied the score at 22-22. The Trojans scored three of the final four points, including the final tally on a block by jack Deuchar and Lucas Frassrand. Kevin Kobrine had six kills in the set for the Trojans.
Set 4
Penn State put an exclamation point on the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth set. The Lions led by as much as eight at 20-12 after a block by Ezeonu and Kowal. Bogner set Fisher for his 13th kill to put the finishing touches on the win. Kowal hit .714 with five kills in the set.
Career Highs
Cole Bogner – digs (12)
Toby Ezeonu – digs (3)
Ryan Merk – assists (5)
Up Next
Penn State plays a top-10 opponent for the fifth straight match when it wraps up the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge against No. 2 UCLA on Saturday at 7 p.m.
