Penguins Face Valparaiso to Start Horizon League Tournament
11/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
With its best regular season in 13 years to its credit, Youngstown State will play third-seeded Valparaiso in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Horizon League Volleyball Championship on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Penguins, who were 15-13 overall during the regular season and 5-9 in league matches, are the sixth seed in the tournament. Cleveland State's Woodling Gym will be the site for the entire tournament.
YSU is in the conference tournament for the first time since 2008, which was the final one before the field was limited to the top six teams. The Penguins are 1-8 all-time in the conference tournament with the win coming against UIC in 2004 when they hosted the tournament. If the Penguins beat Valparaiso, they'd play top-seeded Cleveland State on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the semifinals. The championship match will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday. UIC finished as the No. 2 seed and earned a first-round bye with Cleveland State. No. 4 Loyola and No. 5 Green Bay will play a quarterfinal match on Friday at 5 p.m.
Behind all-league performer Missy Hundelt and first-year head coach Mark Hardaway, the Penguins have already secured their most victories and first winning record since finishing 27-5 in 1999. YSU's 15 wins in 2012 are more than the previous three seasons combined, and its five conference victories match its previous high. The Penguins' sixth-place finish in the standings is also its best since joining the conference in 2001. Hardaway set a new school record for wins by a first-year coach, and YSU's 10-win improvement from last season is tied for fifth-best in the nation.
Recapping Cleveland State
- Cleveland State hit .368 and collected 52 kills as a team to beat YSU in straight sets (25-12, 25-18, 25-16) in the regular-season finale for both teams on Nov. 8.
- The Penguins got 11 kills, eight digs and three blocks from Missy Hundelt, and libero Erika West recorded a match-best 19 digs. That was the most amount of digs in a three-set match this season, and Bri Kern is the only other YSU player to record at least 19 digs in a three-set match over the last five seasons.
- YSU was hurt on serves, committing four serving errors and five receiving errors against the Vikings. Four of those receiving errors, though, came in the first set when Nikki Holmes had four aces in a five-point stretch for Cleveland State.
- Horizon League Player of the Year Kara Koch had 18 kills and 12 digs to lead Cleveland State. Five Vikings finished with at least 11 digs, and they recorded 18 more digs than the Penguins in the match.
Last Time vs. Valparaiso
- Youngstown State got 20 kills apiece from Nichele Johnson and Missy Hundelt but came up short in a four-set loss to Valparaiso (22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 24-26) on Nov. 2.
- Johnson's 20 kills were a career high by far, and she posted an attack percentage of .600. She had just two errors the entire night, but one came on match point when she was blocked.
- Hundelt had 19 kills and three errors in the final three sets after having one kill and three errors in the first set.
- There were 30 ties and 15 lead changes in the close match, and the second set ended when YSU was whistled for having the wrong server. The Penguins had tied the set at 24-24 to force a Valpo timeout, but the error was discovered during the break. As a result of the error, YSU lost a point while Valpo gained a point for a 25-23 win.
First Time vs. Valparaiso
- Valparaiso fought off five set points in the second set and proceeded to hit .419 in both the third and fourth sets to defeat YSU 3-1 (22-25, 33-31, 25-17, 25-14) on Oct. 6 in Valparaiso.
- YSU had a chance to take a 2-0 lead in the match before coming up short in the second-set marathon.
- Alexis Egler led the Penguins with 16 kills and hit .286, and Missy Hundelt finished with 13 kills and 14 digs. Jenna Cavanaugh added seven blocks for YSU, and Erika West posted 16 digs.
- Ellen Vanden Berg had a match-high 19 kills with seven blocks, and Taylor Root registered 25 digs for the Crusaders.
- Valpo had a seven-point run in the third set and an eight-point spurt in the fourth.
Scouting Valparaiso
Valparaiso has won seven of its last eight matches dating back to Oct. 20 and ended the regular season strong with sweeps of Green Bay and Milwaukee. The Crusaders finished the regular season 20-11 overall and tied for second in the Horizon League standings with a conference record of 10-4. They are the third seed in the tournament because of a lost tiebreaker with UIC. Libero Taylor Root is the first player in conference history to earn three Defensive Player-of-the-Year awards, and she was joined on the all-league squad by middle blockers Ellen Vanden Berg and Morgan Beil. The Crusaders ranked in the top half of the conference in opponent hitting percentage, kills, blocks, aces and digs during the regular season, and they were the top squad during conference play in blocks and digs.
Hundelt Earns All-League Honors
Youngstown State junior right-side hitter Missy Hundelt was voted to the All-Horizon League Team by the conference's coaches, the league office announced on Nov. 12. Hundelt ranked fourth in the Horizon League with 3.45 kills per set, and she added 2.83 digs per set. She was even better during conference play, averaging 3.67 kills and 2.87 digs per set. She is currently the only player in the conference with at least 350 kills, 250 digs and 60 blocks.
Other All-Horizon League Penguins
- Ruth Boscaljon – 2009
- Jessica Fraley – 2007
- Ruth Boscaljon – 2006
Cavanaugh's Improvement
Perhaps the most glaring improvement from YSU's offense a year ago to 2012 is the productivity it's getting from the middle blockers, and Jenna Cavanaugh is the leader of that group. Cavanaugh is averaging 1.70 kills, and her 1.24 blocks per set lead the Horizon League. She's gotten her kills on a .259 attack percentage. All of those stats are career highs by far. Her previous career highs were 1.06 kills per set, 0.98 blocks per set and a .151 attack percentage.
Looking at YSU's Improvement
Youngstown State is 15-13 this season after going a combined 7-51 over the previous two seasons. YSU is tied for the fifth-best win improvement in the country with 10 more victories in 2012 than 2011 (5).
2012 Record / 2011 / +Wins
1. Loyola -- 16-11 / 4-22 / +12
1. Akron -- 16-12 / 4-25 / +12
3. High Point -- 20-10 / 9-21 / +11
3. Southern Illinois -- 20-7 / 9-18 / +11
5. YSU -- 15-13 /5-24 / +10
5. Four other teams
- Dating back to the final five matches of last season, YSU has won 18 of its last 33 matches. Over their previous 33 matches, the Penguins were 2-31. They had just 18 wins in their previous 104 matches.
- YSU's 15 wins are its most since going a school-best 27-5 in 1995.
- YSU had at least 10 wins in its first 14 matches for the fourth time in school history. Its best start through 14 matches came in 1995 at 11-3.
- Youngstown State posted 10 wins against non-conference opponents for the first time since 1999.
- YSU won eight consecutive matches for the first time since posting 20 straight wins in 1999. The eight-match winning streak tied for the third-longest in school history.
- The Penguins swept four straight opponents (Aug. 31 to Sept. 4) for the first time since 2001.
Hundelt Climbing Career Lists
Missy Hundelt surpassed 900 career kills on Nov. 3 against Wright State. She is the 12th player to reach 900 career kills, and 10 previous players have gone on to reach 1,000. Below are the two YSU players directly above Hundelt in career kills.
10. Jessica Fraley 1,001 2004-07
11. Ebony Barbosa 985 2005-08
12. Missy Hundelt 916 2010-12
Hundelt's 3.11 kills per set over her career is the third-best rate in school history. She also ranks 10th in school history with 2,687 attempts.
D'Ambrose Reaches 1,500 Career Assists
YSU junior setter Casey D'Ambrose became the seventh player in school history to surpass 1,500 career assists against Valparaiso on Oct. 6. She ranks seventh at YSU with 1,678 assists in her career, 715 of which have come this season. D'Ambrose played primarily as a defensive specialist as a freshman, and she registered 913 assists last year. This season she is part of YSU's 6-2 offense, sharing setting duties with Erin Muir. D'Ambrose is the only Guin this season to appear in every set.
Cavanaugh, West in Top 5
Juniors Jenna Cavanaugh and Erika West currently rank among the top five players in YSU history in career blocks per set and career digs per set, respectively. Cavanaugh's 1.04 blocks per set over her career is the fourth-best in school history. West's 3.34 digs per set is also fourth. Cavanaugh's 1.24 blocks per set this season is the fifth-best average in school history and the best since 2003.
Johnson Comes On Late
Junior Nichele Johnson had a strong close to the regular season and could play a big role for YSU in the tournament. Johnson has posted 33 kills over the last three matches, good for a 3.3 kills per set average and a .415 attack percentage. She had 38 kills in her first 38 sets. Her breakout match came against Valparaiso when she had 20 kills and posted a .600 attack percentage on Nov. 2.
Hoping For Coaching Stability
First-year head coach Mark Hardaway has already led YSU to an 10-win improvement, and he's hoping that he can have a long stretch of success at YSU. Hardaway is YSU's third head coach in the last four seasons. Joe Bonner was the Penguins' head coach in 2009, and Krista Burrows was at the helm the past two seasons. With 14 wins already, Hardaway has set a school record for most victories by a first-year head coach.
Improvement in Efficiency
Although Youngstown State has improved in nearly every statistic from 2011 to 2012, the most glaring is attack percentage. The Penguins are hitting .215 as a team in 2012, which is a monstrous step up from .152 in 2011. In fact, YSU hit above .215 just five times in 29 matches last season and twice in 29 matches in 2010.
YSU Running a 6-2 Offense
Youngstown State has utilized two setters in all but one match this season as first-year head coach Mark Hardaway installed the 6-2 offense. Casey D'Ambrose has played in every set and started all but five matches, and she is averaging 6.56 assists per set. Erin Muir has played in 95 sets with five starts, and she is averaging 4.96 assists. Muir's 471 assists are the seventh-most ever by a YSU freshman.
Up Next
If YSU can defeat Valparaiso in the opening round, it will face No. 1 seed Cleveland State on Saturday at 4 p.m. The championship match is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday.
