The Youngstown State volleyball team earned a big character win on Saturday by topping Milwaukee in four sets at Beeghly Center. The set scores were 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19.
The Penguins, who had a disappointing effort in a 3-0 loss to Green Bay on Friday evening, responded with the four-set victory over the Panthers. Youngstown State is now 10-13 overall and 4-8 in Horizon League play, while Milwaukee drops to 8-15 and 7-5. YSU is one game out of fifth place in the conference standings with a season-defining, four-match road stretch on deck.
Paula Gursching had a match-high 22 kills, including six on 11 attempts in the final set, and YSU hit .272 as a team. Josi Borum was a dig away from a triple-double with 14 kills, 25 assists and nine digs, and Abbie Householder posted nine kills and a team-best 14 digs. Borum's 14 terminations came on 27 attempts, and she hit .481 individually. Isidora Sisic added a match-best four aces and 10 digs.
Milwaukee, which played without defending Horizon League Player of the Year Ari Miller, was led by Madi Malone's 19 kills.
Youngstown State scored the first three points of the match, and it did not trail in the opening set on its way to a 25-19 win. The Penguins hit .359 collectively and were able to keep Milwaukee out of system with an aggressive serve.
YSU then went on a 7-1 run early in the second set to take a 7-4 lead, and it closed out the stanza on a 7-2 spurt to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Borum had kills on all five of her attempts in the set, and Sisic recorded two of YSU's five aces.
Milwaukee's defense allowed it to prolong the match as it posted five blocks and 20 digs in the third set. The Panthers had four early blocks to set the tone, the fourth coming on a point that made it 9-3. YSU closed to within 17-16 before Milwaukee went on a 7-2 run out of a timeout to go up 24-18. The Penguins scored the next three points to build some momentum for the fourth set before Milwaukee prevailed 25-21.
The only tie in the fourth set was at 1-1, and Gursching's 18th kill of the evening gave the Penguins a 7-4 lead to prompt a Milwaukee timeout. The margin was at least two for the rest of the set, and it reached as many as six on an attack error at 19-13. YSU called timeout once Milwaukee crept to within 20-17, but Gursching's final kill after the break gave the Penguins a sideout, and they closed the match on a 5-2 burst.
Youngstown State will begin its road trip in Indiana next weekend at Purdue Fort Wayne. The match against the Mastodons will be on Friday at 6 p.m., and the Penguins will play at IUPUI on Saturday at 4 p.m.
