Youngstown State University
Valparaiso
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valparaiso | 21 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Youngstown State | 25 | 17 | 10 | 17 | 1 |
Guins Win First Set Before Falling 3-1 to Valpo
11/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Youngstown -- The Youngstown State volleyball team won the first set but dropped the next three in a 3-1 loss (25-21, 17-25, 10-25, 17-25) to Valparaiso on Friday evening at Beeghly Center.
Valpo's Katie Britton led all attackers with 20 kills, and Taylor Root's 21 digs led five Crusaders with more than 10 digs.
Kelsi Bitter had eight kills, and Brianna Kern had a career-high 22 digs to lead the Penguins.
The Penguins converted 72 percent of their sideout opportunities in the first set, but they were limited to 41 percent in the second, 31 in the third and 41 in the fourth. YSU's hitting percentage also declined from .194 in the first to .114, -.194 and .039 the rest of the way.
There were eight ties and four lead changes in the first set as Youngstown State pulled away late to win 25-21. YSU held the largest lead of the set at 15-12, but the Guins eventually trailed 20-19 on a Britton kill. YSU scored the next five points to go up 24-20, and a Bitter kill at set point gave the Guins a 1-0 lead. Britton connected on eight of 11 attempts in the first set for a .727 percentage, but her teammates had six kills and eight errors in 27 attempts.
YSU only led 1-0 and 2-1 in the second set as Valpo started to take control of the match. The Crusaders led 10-8 before going on a 6-2 run to go up 16-10. YSU climbed to within 17-15, but Valpo closed out the set by scoring eight of the next 10 points.
Valpo also used a big run in the third to turn an 8-6 lead into a 22-8 advantage. The Crusaders built a 17-7 lead in the fourth, but, with two Valpo starters out, YSU rallied to make the score 17-15 on another Bitter kill. Similar to the third, Valpo scored eight of the final 10 points to win 25-17.
The Penguins will play their home finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Loyola.
