The defending national champions will face stiff competition during the NCAA tournament this month. But in the opening round, they made it look easy.
Penn State (27-5) overwhelmed Howard (18-13) in straight sets to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament (25-16, 25-8, 25-17). Outside hitter Ali Frantti was the breakout star of the game with a match-leading 12 kills.
Howard never seriously threatened the Lions. Even after leading 6-1 in the third set, the Bison committed a barrage of errors that allowed the Lions to regain the lead and comfortably win the deciding set, 25-17.