Youngstown State University
16-13, 7-7Horizon
Cleveland State
14-13, 7-7Horizon
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland State | 21 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 3 |
| Youngstown State | 25 | 11 | 24 | 17 | 1 |
Volleyball Falls in Four in Regular-Season Finale
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Youngstown State volleyball team dropped its regular-season finale in four sets to Cleveland State on Friday evening at Beeghly Center. The set scores were 21-25, 25-11, 26-24, 25-17.
Youngstown State struggled offensively for most of the night and hit .076 as a team. The Vikings hit .048 in the first set but .295 over the final three.
Sam Brown had five of her team-high 11 kills in the first set, and senior Lexi Egler posted 10 kills and nine digs in her final home match. Fellow senior Shannon Watson finished with seven kills and a team-best six blocks.
Cleveland State won for the third straight match and moved into a tie with Youngstown State in the Horizon League standings. YSU finished the regular season with a 16-13 overall mark and a 7-7 record in conference play.
Grace Kauth had a match-high 16 kills to lead Cleveland State, and the Vikings had nine aces in the match.
Cleveland State scored five of the first six points in the first set, and it held the upper hand until the Penguins scored five straight points behind Brown's serve to go ahead 13-11. Cleveland State led three more times in the set, the final time at 18-17, before the Penguins pulled ahead for good. A Brown kill started a three-point spurt that put YSU up 20-18, an Egler's kill finished the set.
There were three ties and two lead changes early in the second set before Cleveland State pulled away. An Egler kill got YSU within 6-5, but the Vikings scored the next six points to go up 12-5. A Nikki Thompson ace cut the deficit to 15-11, but Cleveland State went on to score the final 10 points of the set. Maggie Hannon had four aces during that 10-point run.
There were 16 ties in the third set, and neither team scored back-to-back points from 9-9 until Cleveland State led 18-17. The Vikings increased their lead to 21-18 after a Kauth kill, but YSU answered with a 5-0 run to go up 23-21. Back-to-back kills allowed CSU to tie the set, and the Vikings went on to score five of the final six points of the set.
The Vikings then scored the first five points of the fourth set and held the advantage the entire way.
The Horizon League Tournament will start next Friday at Oakland. Youngstown State's seed and opponent will be determined on Saturday.
