Youngstown State University
10-8 (1-2)
Valparaiso
15-2 (2-1)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youngstown State | 25 | 22 | 20 | 13 | 1 |
| Valparaiso | 16 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Egler Joins Exclusive 1,000/1,000 Club for YSU
10/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Youngstown State senior outside hitter Lexi Egler joined an exclusive group of Penguins to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs on Friday evening in a four-set loss at Valparaiso. The set scores were 16-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-13.
Egler is the fifth player in school history in the 1,000/1,000 club, joining Amy Hermann, Heather Luben, Jill Raslevich and Vickie Robinson. She is one of 12 Penguins with 1,000 kills and one of 14 with 1,000 digs.
Egler finished the match with 14 kills and 14 digs, and Shannon Watson had 12 kills for the Penguins, who are now 10-8 overall and 1-2 in Horizon League play. Nikki Thompson added 27 digs, while Jessie Gerig posted a career-best 15 digs. Val Jeffery also had a double-double with 46 assists and 11 digs.
Emily Campbell paced Valparaiso with 15 kills and 15 digs.
Youngstown State outhit the Crusaders .261 to .132 in the first set, but Valparaiso rebounded to outhit YSU .294-.159 over the final three sets.
"Tonight was bittersweet," YSU head coach Mark Hardaway said. "We're very proud of Lexi getting her 1,000th kill and 1,000th dig. That's a great accomplishment. We did some really good things but couldn't sustain it, and we really broke down in the fourth set. We should be able to build off of tonight. Jessie and Nikki were amazing in the back row."
Three straight kills by Aly Ryan, Sam Brown and Lauren Thompson put YSU up 8-6 in the first set, and the Penguins did not trail again in the 25-16 victory. Valpo scored four of the first five points of the second set and led throughout to tie the match, and the third set was the match's most competitive. A Lauren Thompson kill tied the score for the seventh time at 11-11, but Valpo scored the next four points to go ahead 15-11. Valpo built an 18-12 advantage, but Egler had kills on three of the next four points to get the score within two. That's as close as YSU would get, and Valpo never trailed in the fourth.
Egler's 1,000th kill came on YSU's fourth point of the fourth set, and her 1,000th dig came on a Campbell attack at 15-8.
Youngstown State will go for a weekend split when it plays at UIC on Saturday at 5 p.m. Eastern.
