Penguins Return Home for Two Weekend Matches
10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Youngstown -- The Youngstown
State volleyball team returns home for two matches this weekend,
hoping a return to the win column accompanies it.
The Penguins (8-8, 1-5 Horizon) are coming off
a three-week road stretch in which they dropped four in closely
contested league contests. YSU's last win came on Sept. 20 at home
in straight sets against Loyola, which upped its record to 8-4.
YSU will invite two of the top three teams in
the Horizon League to the Beeghly Center, playing host to league
leader Milwaukee on Saturday at 4 p.m. and third-place Green Bay on
Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Panthers enter the weekend 12-5 overall and
5-1 in Horizon League contests. Their only league loss came to
Green Bay in five sets on Oct. 3. The Phoenix is 8-8 overall and
4-2 in conference games.
October is "Think Pink" Month
In conjunction with National Breast
Cancer Awareness Month, the Youngstown State volleyball team will
"Think Pink" for four of its home matches during the month.
T-shirts and bracelets will be on sale for $10 and $2,
respectively, to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The
volleyball program will also collect names of breast cancer
survivors and those who passed from their fight to be recognized
later in the season.
First 12 Matches Different from Last Four
After its victory over Loyola on Sept.
20, YSU was 8-4 and had won six of its last eight matches. The
Penguins were hitting .240 as a team and averaging 12.29 kills per
set. In their four-match losing skid, the Penguins are being held
to a .152 attack percentage and are averaging 10.62 kills per
set.
Barbosa Reaches 850 Kills, 900 Digs
Senior Ebony Barbosa surpassed 850
kills and 900 digs in her career last weekend. She eclipsed 850
kills on Friday with six terminations against Butler, and she
reached the 900 digs plateau on Saturday at Valparaiso. She
currently has 863 kills and 912 digs.
Boscaljon Surpasses 300 Blocks
Junior middle blocker Ruth Boscaljon
reached 300 total blocks in her career last weekend by tallying
nine at Butler and Valpo. She has 90 block solos and 223 block
assists for 313 in her career. She ranks sixth in school history in
total blocks, block assists and block solos, and her 1.08 blocks
per set ranks third.
Before the match at Butler on Oct. 3, the Penguins were 5-0 when recording at least 10 blocks as a team. The trend hasn't continued recently as YSU has lost its last three contests when it has posted more than 10 blocks. The Penguins posted 12 in a five-set setback to Butler, 13 in three sets at Valparaiso and 11 in three sets against Cleveland State.
The Penguins have hit under .200 as a team during the past three matches. Before hitting a season-low .110 on Oct. 3, they hadn't hit lower than .200 since Aug. 30 at Ohio State and had just two sub-.200 efforts for the year.
