Volleyball Opens Up 35th Season This Weekend at Maryland Tourney
8/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Youngstown State volleyball team will begin its 35th season on Friday against Villanova in the first of three matches at the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Maryland Invitational. The Penguins and Wildcats will open the four-team tournament at 5 p.m., and the host Maryland Terrapins will play against Stony Brook at 7 p.m. YSU plays Maryland at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Stony Brook at 5 p.m.
The Penguins enter the season returning 11 letterwinners and five starters - including the libero - but this weekend will feature a new outside hitter and setter for the first time in three seasons. The young tandem of redshirt sophomore Kelsi Bitter, sophomore Brittany Grove and freshman Suzanne Lasseigne have played in a combined 16 sets at the collegiate level. Redshirt sophomore Dani Soubliere played in 62 sets as a true freshman in 2007, but she missed all of 2008 with a knee injury. She and freshman Angela Roidt will both see action this weekend.
The Penguins have a veteran group aside from those two positions, and head coach Joe Bonner thinks he has the most depth in his five years at YSU. At the forefront of the returners is a talented group of middle hitters in seniors Ruth Boscaljon and Allison Heinz and junior Haley Kapferer. Boscaljon can dominate a match both offensively and defensively and is arguably the emotional leader of the squad. She needs just eight kills to reach 1,000 for her career, and her 1.16 blocks per set last season ranked 48th in the nation. Heinz has hit at an efficient .251 over the past two seasons, and Kapferer emerged to post 156 kills last season.
Scouting Villanova
The Villanova Wildcats are coming off a 14-16 season in which they finished 11th in the Big East with a 5-9 conference mark. Three starters are gone from last season, but sophomores Morgan Petkovich and Maggie Mergen return after standout freshman campaigns. Petkovich finished with 310 kills to rank second ont he team and Mergen had 283. The Wildcats defeated YSU in four sets on Sept. 11, 1994, in the only match between the two teams. Current YSU assistant coach Darcy Thompson coached at Villanova in 2007.
Scouting Maryland
The host Terrapins are coming off a 6-26 record in head coach Tim Horsmon's first season. Five new freshmen hope to lead the rebirth along with senior leader Katie Usher. Usher led Maryland in blocks (104) and kills (282) last season and ranks fifth in school history with 403 total blocks. The Penguins and Terrapins will be meeting for the first time.
Scouting Stony Brook
The Stony Brook Seawolves are coming off a 12-18 season in which they finished 3-9 in American East play. Four starters and three more players who played in more than 27 matches last season return. Stony Brook has five seniors on the squad, and junior Ashley Headen is the top returning attacker with 200 kills last season. YSU defeated Stony Brook in three sets on Sept. 21, 2002, in the only meeting between the two schools.
1,000th Match Upcoming
The Youngstown State volleyball program will play in its 1,000th match on Friday, Sept. 18, against Valparaiso at the Beeghly Center. YSU first began playing volleyball in 1975 and has amassed a 416-570-4 record in its 34 seasons. Nearly half of the wins and matches came under coach Joe Conroy, who led YSU to a 188-210 record from 1992-2004. Conroy's 1999 team went a school-best 27-5 and won the 1999 Mid-Continent Conference regular season title.
Boscaljon Nearing 1,000 Kills
Senior Ruth Boscaljon needs just eight kills this weekend to become the 10th player in school history to reach the 1,000 kills mark. Boscaljon's 992 kills is the most ever by a Penguin through three seasons, and her .294 career hitting percentage is also a school record. Boscaljon will need 417 kills to surpass Vickie Robinson's 1,408 career mark, but the senior needs just 141 to move into the top three in school history. Boscaljon also ranks fifth in school history in total blocks with 364. She could join Kristen Meech (1,055 kills, 562 blocks) as the only two players in school history to have at least 1,000 kills and 500 blocks.
O'Hara Hopes to Pick-Up on Strong Close to 2008
Senior Kaitlin O'Hara hopes to carry a strong end to the 2008 season throughout the 2009 campaign. O'Hara reached at least 11 kills in four of her final five matches last season to cap off her first full-time duty on the outside. O'Hara finished with 225 kills to rank third behind Boscaljon and former senior Ebony Barbosa.
Three First-Time Opponents Await in Cincinnati
The Penguins will play Cincinnati, the College of Charleston and Evansville each for the first time at the Bearcat Invitational next weekend. YSU begins the tournament playing against the host Bearcats on Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m. The Penguins then play Saturday against the College of Charleston at 10 a.m. and Evansville at 5 p.m. Cincinnati and the College of Charleston both had 27 wins last season, and Evansville had 14.
