Volleyball Starts Four-Match Week at Loyola on Tuesday
10/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Youngstown -- The Youngstown State volleyball team has a busy week ahead with four road matches in six days, beginning with a contest at Loyola on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern in Chicago. The Penguins will then play at Green Bay on Wednesday, at UIC on Saturday and at Valparaiso on Sunday. Live stats and live video will be available for all four matches on YSUsports.com.
YSU will head into the Loyola match having played just once in a 10-day span. The lone match resulted in a 3-0 loss to Milwaukee, which remained undefeated in Horizon League play. The Penguins hit a season-worst -.018 as a team against the Panthers with 30 attack errors in the three sets. YSU led early in all three sets, but Milwaukee answered with runs each time and took sizeable leads. Sophomore Missy Hundelt had a team-best nine kills, but she also registered 10 errors. Freshman Alexis Egler added eight kills and seven digs, and sophomore Jackie Carlisle had seven kills and a team-high .211 attack percentage. Freshman setter Brianna Bartlett came off the bench to record 11 assists and an ace in the third set.
Hundelt continues to lead the Penguins with 3.62 kills per set, a rate that ranks fourth in the Horizon League. Carlisle ranks just outside of the top 10 in kills with 2.77 per set. Hundelt also ranks fourth in the conference in aces while Erika West is eighth in digs and Casey D'Ambrose is ninth in assists.
Youngstown State and Loyola will both be looking for their first conference wins on Tuesday. The Ramblers are coming off a five-set loss at home to Green Bay in which they led the Phoenix 2-0. Senior libero Cat Languido recorded a career-high 34 digs, but Green Bay was still able to hit .262 as a team. The Phoenix hit at least .333 in each of the three last sets. Laura Purcell had 15 kills in the match, and Mary Kate Styler and she are both averaging 2.80 kills per set. Libby Bresser had five blocks to up her average to 0.93 blocks per set. Languido's 3.98 digs per set ranks sixth in the conference. Loyola is now 3-10 overall and 0-4 in Horizon League play.
YSU will travel to Green Bay Tuesday evening in preparation for Wednesday's contest against the Phoenix at 7 p.m. Eastern. Green Bay is 6-10 overall and 2-2 in Horizon League play following back-to-back wins over non-conference foe Chicago State and Loyola. The Phoenix also beat Valparaiso on Sept. 23 to account for the Crusaders' only loss in league play. Carmen Leitermann had 20 kills and six blocks to lead Green Bay past Loyola on Friday. Abbey Gitter, who had 15 kills in the win, leads Green Bay with 2.82 kills per set. Leitermann is the top blocker at 0.93 blocks per set, and libero Brittany Groth averages 4.91 blocks per set. Green Bay's .217 team attack percentage ranks second in the Horizon League. Green Bay plays Cleveland State on Tuesday.
