With only four first-round matches taking place on Thursday night, Friday marked the first big night of the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament. 

Twenty-eight first-round matches went down last night, along with two second-round battles. 

Here are the top takeaways from the action.

1. No. 1 seed Penn State dropped a set to Howard.

Penn State opened its first-round match versus Howard strong, crushing the Bison 25-10 in the first set, but in the second Howard took advantage of some low energy on the Penn State side of the net and tied the match at one set a piece.

The second-set loss marked the first time since 1989 that Penn State lost a set in the first round of the NCAA tournament. 

The Nittany Lions quickly returned to form and recorded a .333 hitting percentage in defeating Howard in four sets. Senior middle blocker Haleigh Washington led the way with a match-high 13 kills, hitting .500. 

“We need to be better, Pitt’s good at what they do.” -Russ Rose

Top-ranked Penn State moves past Howard, 3-1. Second round matchup on deck, Saturday against Pitt at 7 pm in Rec Hall.

— Arielle Sargent (@arielle_sargent) December 2, 2017

2. Florida and Utah advanced to the Round of 16.

With wins over Miami (FL) and Purdue, respectively, Florida and Utah became the first two teams to advance out of the second round. 

Florida took four sets to take down Miami, with opposite Olga Strantzali leading the way for the Hurricanes with 20 kills hitting .415. On the match, however, Florida put on an impressive offensive show, with three of its biggest hitters — Rhamat Alhassan, Rachael Kramer, and Carli Snyder — recording zero errors. Alhassan and Kramer both hit over .600, and Shainah Joseph led the match with 19 kills and two errors hitting .515. 

Utah’s 3-1 victory over Purdue marked the first time since 2008 the Utes have advanced to the round of 16. After losing set three 25-13, Utah was down 20-15 in the fourth, but went on a 12-5 run to win the match. Adora Anae led the Utes with 27 kills on the match.

Adora Anae just recorded her 25th kill of the set. That is a new Utah single-match record in NCAA Tournament play, surpassing Kim Turner's total of 24 kills set back in 2003. #GoUtes #UteStrong pic.twitter.com/s3pNCi8wJ6

— Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) December 2, 2017

3. NC State earned its first-ever NCAA tournament win.

NC State won a five-set thriller over Oregon State to advance to the second round for the first time in program history. This is only NC State's third trip the NCAA tournament.

Senior Arizona State transfer Bree Bailey dominated for the Wolfpack, smashing a match-high 22 kills, while senior Julia Brown added 19. 

ICYMI....check out the recap, highlights and photo gallery from last night's 3-2 victory against Oregon State for the program's FIRST NCAA Tournament win #STATEMENT https://t.co/Td00zCAT9i

— Wolfpack