Volleyball Returns Home for Two Matches This Week
9/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Youngstown State volleyball team will play at Beeghly Center for just the second and third times this season when it welcomes Robert Morris and Cleveland State to campus this week. The Penguins will host Robert Morris on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before returning to conference play with a match against the Vikings on Friday at 7 p.m. Live video and live stats will be available for both matches on YSUsports.com.
YSU enters the weekend with a 1-12 record while Robert Morris is 3-10 and Cleveland State is 9-4. Jackie Carlisle is coming off a 15-kill match at Butler and has upper her kills average to 2.73 per set. Erika West ranks fifth in the Horizon League with 3.77 digs per set, and Casey D'Ambrose is eighth in assists and ninth in aces. The Penguins were swept by both Butler and Wright State last weekend with top offensive threat Missy Hundelt on the sidelines. She ranks third in the conference in kills per set and fourth in aces per set.
Scouting Robert Morris
Robert Morris lost in straight sets to Eastern Michigan on Saturday to stop a two-match winning streak. The Colonials started the season 1-9, and their record currently stands at 3-10. Robert Morris was picked to finish second in the Northeast Conference's preseason poll. YSU owns a 30-5 all-time record against Robert Morris. The teams have not played at Beeghly Center since 2003. Lindsey Monger averages a team-high 3.53 kills per set while Becky Jay leads the team in blocks.
Last time vs. Robert Morris
Ruth Boscaljon had nine kills and four blocks, and Youngstown State had six aces to defeat Robert Morris in straight sets – 25-20, 25-19, 25-20 – on Sept. 12, 2009 in Moon Township, Pa. YSU had 12 blocks as a team and benefited from six RMU serving errors.
Scouting Cleveland State
Cleveland State swept Butler and Wright State last weekend to improve to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in Horizon League play. Among other common opponents with YSU, the Vikings beat Indiana in five sets in the season's first weekend and lost to Kent State in five sets. The Vikings were picked to finish second in the conference preseason poll. Junior Kara Koch leads the Horizon League with 3.98 kills per set, and Jackie Dabbelt's .349 attack percentage is the best in the league. Cleveland State holds a 47-13 lead in the all-time series and has won 21 straight meetings dating back to 2001.
Last Time vs. Cleveland State
Kara Koch had 17 of Cleveland State's 48 kills as the Vikings swept YSU – 25-13, 25-13, 25-18 – on Oct. 29 last year. Cleveland State hit .320 as a team. Tasha Reid had six kills, and Haley Kapferer posted four blocks for Youngstown State.
Showing Improvement Despite Record
The Penguins battled throughout their non-conference schedule and opening weekend of Horizon League play, but they've only been able to get one win. YSU swept Fairleigh Dickinson on Sept. 10 for its first win in nearly a year, but having just that lone win is not indicative of the Penguins' improvement from 2010. The most obvious indicator is the Penguins have already won more sets this year (16) in 13 matches than they did in 29 matches last year (15). A statistical comparison is below:
Category -- 2011/2010/+
Kills Per Set -- 11.50/9.89/1.61
Attack Pct. -- .169/.115/.054
Assists Per Set -- 10.52/9.14/1.38
Aces Per Set -- 1.50/0.91/0.59
Points Per Set -- 14.87/12.82/2.05
Carlisle Approaching .200
Youngstown State sophomore Jackie Carlisle has recorded 142 kills through the first 13 matches of the season. That is already 108 more than she had all of last season. What's equally, if not more impressive, is that Carlisle has increased her production while posting a .192 attack percentage. That is the highest by a YSU outside hitter since Colleen Royer hit .240 in 2003. Carlisle had 15 kills in three sets at Butler on Saturday. That was the second-highest total of her career behind only a 24-kill outburst in five sets against Southeast Missouri State on Sept. 3.
Team of Many Underclassmen
Youngstown State's group of seven sophomores and five freshmen have accounted for a very large portion of the Penguins' stats so far this year. Through 13 matches, 95 percent of YSU's kills (567 of 598), 91 percent of its block assists (157 of 172), 91 percent of its solo blocks (10 of 11), 85 percent of its digs (543 of 642), 86 percent of its aces (67 of 78) and 98 percent of its assists (537 of 547) have come from freshmen or sophomores.
