Volleyball Set to Entertain UIC, Loyola This Weekend
9/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
After playing 15 of its first 16 matches on the road, the Youngstown State volleyball team is looking forward to returning to Beeghly Center this weekend for two Horizon League matches. The Penguins will welcome UIC to campus on Friday at 7 p.m., and they'll host Loyola on Saturday at 4 p.m. Live stats and live video of both matches will be available through YSUsports.com.
The Penguins lost both of their matches last weekend to open conference play, but they continued to show that they are a much-improved team. YSU lost in four sets at defending league champion Milwaukee on Friday, and the Penguins took Green Bay to five sets before losing on Saturday. YSU had been swept by Milwaukee in four straight matches and been held by the Panthers to an average of 14.8 points per set over the past two years. YSU had won one set combined in the previous four matches against Green Bay.
Junior middle blocker Jenna Cavanaugh had the high point thus of her breakout campaign on Saturday at Green Bay. Cavanaugh posted 19 kills and had just two attack errors in 36 attempts against the Phoenix. She also posted four blocks and ranks second in the conference with 1.13 per set. Cavanaugh's 103 kills are already the most for a season in her career, and she is just 16 blocks shy of the total from her freshman year. Junior Missy Hundelt continues to rank fourth in the conference in kills per set, and she has seven double-doubles in YSU's first 16 matches. Alexis Egler had 22 digs versus Green Bay and is averaging a career-best 2.43 digs per set. Her .208 attack percentage is 70 points higher than it was in 2011.
Scouting UIC
UIC beat both Valparaiso and Wright State in four sets last week in Chicago to open Horizon League play at 2-0 and improve its overall record to 8-8. The Flames have three players ranking in the top 10 in the Horizon League in hitting percentage, and another player, Kelsey Safranek, ranks fifth in the conference with 3.13 kills per set. Janise Dismuke ranks third in the league with 1.07 blocks per set, and she posted 17 kills and a .762 attack percentage in UIC's win over Wright State on Saturday. UIC was picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League's preseason coaches poll.
Scouting Loyola
Loyola earned a split last weekend, beating Wright State in four sets while losing to Valparaiso in four. The Ramblers are now 9-6 overall this season and have more-than-doubled their four-win total from 2011. Senior Anna Eytchison, a transfer from Dayton, had 28 kills in the win over Wright State. Her 4.34 kills per set ranks second in the conference. The Ramblers lead the Horizon League with 1.63 aces per set, and the top three individual servers are all from Loyola. The Ramblers were picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll. They will play at Cleveland State on Friday before playing YSU.
Last Year vs. UIC, Loyola
• UIC – The Penguins split with the Flames last year with each team winning on their home court. YSU lost 25-22, 25-14, 25-22 at the Flames Athletic Center on Oct. 8, 2011. The Penguins got 12 kills from Missy Hundelt while Shannon Watson posted three aces and three blocks. Kelsey Safranek had 19 kills for UIC. In Youngstown, YSU beat the Flames 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 20-25, 16-14 on Nov. 5, 2011. The Penguins got 21 kills from Hundelt, a double-double from Alexis Egler and 13 aces as a team in the win. Safranek had 33 kills for the Flames.
• Loyola – YSU beat Loyola in four sets in both meetings last season. On Oct. 4 in Chicago, the Penguins hit .279 as a team and had three players finish with at least 11 kills in the victory. Shannon Watson had a then career-high 14 kills and hit .619, and Missy Hundelt registered 14 kills and 12 digs. Laura Purcell had 19 kills for the Ramblers. The Penguins beat Loyola 3-1 again in the regular-season finale in Youngstown on Nov. 12. Hundelt posted 20 kills, and four other Penguins registered at least seven terminations.
Quick Notes from Last Weekend
• Missy Hundelt surpassed 750 career kills and 601 career digs against Green Bay. She is the 17th player in school history to surpass 750 career kills. Ten have gone on to reach 1,000.
• In addition to setting a new career high with 19 kills at Green Bay, Jenna Cavanaugh surpassed the 200-kill plateau for her career against the Phoenix.
• YSU won its first set in Milwaukee since sweeping the Panthers in 2009. The Penguins had been swept in four straight matches against UWM prior to winning the first set on Friday.
• YSU posted 103 digs and 215 attempts in the five-set loss to Green Bay. Both were highs since the winning score for sets was dropped from 30 to 25 in 2008. The Penguins last surpassed 103 digs on Sept. 29, 2007, against Green Bay when they had 112. YSU last had more than 215 attempts on Oct. 13, 2007, against Butler when it had 219.
• Three Penguins finished with at least 20 digs on Saturday against Green Bay. Alexis Egler had 22, Erika West had 21, and Missy Hundelt had 20. That was the first time YSU had three players record at least 20 digs in a match since at least 2001 when it joined the Horizon League.
Next Week
YSU will head back on the road to play at Wright State and at Valparaiso. The Penguins will play the Raiders on Friday at 7 p.m. and the Crusaders on Saturday at 6 p.m.
