Youngstown State University
2-6,0-0Horizon
South Dakota State
5-2,0-0Summit League
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota St. | 23 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 3 |
| Youngstown St. | 25 | 20 | 21 | 25 | 12 | 2 |
Penguins Drop Two Matches at Blue & Gold Tournament
9/11/2021 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Youngstown State volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at the Blue & Gold Tournament on Saturday, falling in five sets to South Dakota State in the morning and a three-setter to Toledo in the evening.
Paula Gursching had 21 kills against South Dakota State and 10 in the match against Toledo, and she was YSU's all-tournament team representative for the third straight week.
The Penguins and Jackrabbits played five closely contested sets, and there were 36 ties and 17 lead changes in the match. SDSU won 23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 15-12.
Setter Lexi Beeke was a kill from a triple-double against SDSU with nine kills, 42 assists and a career-high 18 digs. Gursching had 21 kills for her third match of 2021 with more than 20 kills, and Reilly Seagroves notched her fifth straight contest with at least 20 digs by recording 21.
Crystal Burk led the Jackrabbits with 23 kills on a .333 attack percentage.
The largest margin in the opening set was three points when YSU led 6-3, and the Penguins got five kills from both Gursching and Nadia Pace and four from Josi Borum in the win. Pace went on to finish with a career-high 12 kills on a .407 attack percentage, while Borum finished with seven kills.
South Dakota State ended the second set on a 5-1 run to even the match, and the Jackrabbits had five blocks in the third set as they took a 2-1 lead.
Youngstown State's final deficit in the fourth wet was 10-9, and a four-point burst put the Penguins ahead for good at 13-10. Gursching had kills for YSU's final two points, and the Penguins limited SDSU to a .146 attack percentage in the set.
Youngstown State trailed 5-2 early in the fifth but went on a 6-1 run to lead an 8-6 advantage following a setting error. YSU's final lead was 10-9 on Pace's last kill of the day, and the score was tied at 10, 11 and 12 before South Dakota State scored the final three points of the match.
Toledo hit .291 in the final match of the tournament and beat the Penguins 25-21, 25-20, 25-14.
In addition to Gursching's 10 kills against the Rockets, Ellie Cox notched a career-best eight kills, and Borum registered six. Gursching contributed a team-high 11 digs for her second double-double of the day.
The first set was tied at 20 after back-to-back kills by Cox and Beeke, but Toledo scored the next four points as part of a 5-1 run to end the set. The Rockets took the second set 25-20 despite five kills from Gursching and four from Borum. Toledo then scored 10 of the first 12 points of the third set, and it hit .429 in the stanza.
Youngstown State will play two matches next week at the Golden Flashes Invitational. The Penguins will take on Kent State on Thursday, and they'll play Duquesne on Friday.
