Volleyball Makes First Tournament Appearance in Eight Years Friday Versus Green Bay

Friday, November 18

Dayton, OH

3:00 PM

Youngstown State University

Green Bay

Photo by: Robert Hayes

Volleyball Makes First Tournament Appearance in Eight Years Friday Versus Green Bay

11/16/2022 12:42:00 PM | Volleyball

Tournament Central Isidora Sisic Interview Match Notes

Youngstown State will make its first appearance in the Horizon League Volleyball Championship in eight years as it begins postseason play on Friday. The Penguins are the sixth seed in the tournament, and they will take on third-seeded Green Bay at 3 p.m. in Wright State's C.J. McLin Gymnasium.

All matches at the Horizon League Volleyball Championship will be broadcast live on ESPN+, and live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com.

If the Penguins prevail against Green Bay on Friday, they would top-seeded Wright State on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the first semifinals contest. The championship match will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Youngstown State went 14-15 overall and 8-10 in Horizon League matches during the regular season. The Penguins have their most wins since 2014, which was also the last season that they made the conference tournament, and they also set a new program record for Horizon League victories. Six of those eight league wins came in a seven-match stretch from Oct. 18 through Nov. 4, and five of them were on the road.

The Penguins are led by sophomore outside hitter Paula Gursching and senior setter/right side Josi Borum, who rank among the nation's leaders in statistical categories. Gursching, who set the Horizon League record for kills in the 25-point rally scoring with 576, ranks second in the country in both total kills and total points. Borum leads the nation with 10 triple-doubles and ranks second on the team in kills, assists, digs and blocks.

YSU's Road to the Tournament

Youngstown State is 14-15 overall and 8-10 in Horizon League play as it enters the Horizon League Volleyball Championship for the first time in eight years.
The Penguins won their first two matches and were 6-4 following a 3-0 sweep of Akron on Sept. 16. YSU then lost six straight matches in a tough stretch where it had three five-set losses, and the Penguins held the lead in five of those six contests. Following a five-set loss to IUPUI in Youngstown after the Jaguars came back from a 2-0 deficit, YSU's record was 6-10 overall and 0-4 in conference play at the end of September.
Since the calendar flipped to October, YSU is 8-5 and won eight of 11 from Oct. 1 through Nov. 4. The hot stretch started with a 3-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne, and a five-set win over Robert Morris followed. Then, facing a tough stretch of matches at Wright State, Northern Kentucky and Oakland in a five-day stretch, YSU battled the Norse to five sets and beat the Golden Grizzlies on Oct. 18 for the first time since 2000.
The Penguins had a disappointing effort in a 3-0 loss to Green Bay on Oct. 21, but they responded to win their next five matches. YSU won 3-1 against Milwaukee the next day, and it claimed road matches at Purdue Fort Wayne, IUPUI, Cleveland State and Robert Morris to improve its record to 14-13 overall and 8-8 in league play. YSU was swept in its final two matches of the regular season by NKU and Wright State.
In addition to YSU beating Oakland for the first time since 2000, the Penguins swept Cleveland State in Cleveland for the first time since 1995. Youngstown State also won Horizon League road matches on consecutive days for the first time in program history when it earned 3-2 victories at Purdue Fort Wayne and IUPUI on Oct. 28-29.

YSU's Tournament History

Youngstown State is in its first Horizon League Tournament since 2014, which is also the last season that YSU won a postseason contest. In that 2014 tournament, the Penguins swept Cleveland State as the fourth seed to advance to the semifinals.
YSU is 3-11 all-time in the Horizon League Volleyball Championship. YSU's first victory came in 2004 when it swept UIC as the eighth seed and the tournament's host. The Penguins went nine years before their next postseason win, which was a 3-2 victory as the fifth seed against Green Bay in 2013. YSU made it back-to-back seasons with a conference tournament victory with its 3-0 win over Cleveland State in 2014.
This is the second time that YSU is the sixth seed in the tournament. The Penguins were also the sixth seed in 2012 when they lost to third-seeded Valparaiso 3-0.
YSU has played Green Bay twice in the postseason, which resulted in a 3-1 loss in 2005 and a 3-2 win in 2013.

Scouting Green Bay

Green Bay is the third seed in the Horizon League Volleyball Championship after finishing 23-10 overall and 13-5 in conference play. The Phoenix had the second-best overall record in the conference during the regular season, and they finished two games behind NKU in third place in league play.
Green Bay hit a league-best .245 during the regular season, and it also ranked among the top three in the conference in opponent hitting percentage, assists, kills, blocks and digs.
Individually, Alexandra Zakutney ranks third in the Horizon League with 3.55 kills, and she is second in points per set at 4.19. Tiffany Paalman and Angie Gromos are the top two players in the conference in attack percentage, and they both rank among the top six in the league in blocks per set. Setter Calli Gentry ranks second in the league with 10.25 assists per set.
Youngstown State lost both of its matches against Green Bay during the regular season. In Green Bay, the Penguins fell 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 24-26, 25-19). Josi Borum finished with 11 kills, 22 assists and 13 digs, and Paula Gursching led all players with 21 kills while hitting .309. In the match in Youngstown, Green Bay swept the Penguins (25-19, 25-18, 25-17) despite 18 kills from Gursching. The Phoenix hit .372 in the match while YSU was held to .079.

More Competitive in 2022

Youngstown State has won eight more matches in 2022 than it did in 2021, and the Penguins have experienced an 11-win improvement from the spring 2021 campaign.
While YSU's improvement from six wins in 2021 to 14 in 2022 is impressive on its own, the Penguins have been more competitive even in their losses. Youngstown State is 55-59 in sets played this season. Last year, the Penguins were 32-74, and that included a stretch of going 13-20 over the final eight matches.
Youngstown State was 9-7 away from its home gym this season. The Penguins were 5-8 in Beeghly Center, 7-6 in road matches and 2-1 in neutral-site contests.

YSU Records Most HL Wins in Program History

Youngstown State finished 8-10 in Horizon League matches in 2022, which is a new record for conference wins since YSU joined the league in 2001. The previous record was seven when the Penguins went 7-7 in both 2013 and 2014.
YSU went 7-6 on the road during the regular season, and the seven road victories are the second most by the program since the 1999 campaign. Youngstown State won five road matches in conference play, which is the most since joining the Horizon League.

Gursching, Sisic Earn Academic All-League Accolades

Youngstown State's Paula Gursching and Isidora Sisic were voted to the 2022 Horizon League Volleyball All-Academic Team. This is the fourth time that Youngstown State has had multiple selections on the Horizon League All-Academic Team, and all four occurrences have happened since 2014. Both Gursching and Sisic are first-time honorees.
In addition to all of her athletic accomplishments, Gursching holds a 3.900 GPA as a business major. Sisic has started every match at libero for Youngstown State and ranks third in the Horizon League in aces per set with 0.42, and she's seventh in digs per set with 3.71. Academically, Sisic holds a 3.806 GPA as an international business major.

Gursching's Historic Season

National Rankings: Through matches completed on Nov. 14, Gursching ranks second in the country in total kills (576) and total points (646.), and she is third in total attacks (1,412). She ranks fourth nationally in kills per set (5.24) and points per set (5.87), and she's sixth in attacks per set (12.84). Gursching also ranks 47th in total aces (43), and she's 100th in aces per set (0.39).
Six-Time Player of the Week: Gursching was named the Horizon League Player of the Week six times during the season, which tied for the most for a season in conference history. Only three other student-athletes won the award twice this season. No Penguin had been named Horizon League Player of the Week four times in their careers prior to this season.
Consistent: Gursching has had the highest kill total among all players on the floor in 25 of her 28 matches this season. She has delivered nine of the top 11 single-match kills total in the conference in 2022.
A Sizeable Gap: Gursching has 166 more kills than anyone else in the league this season. She is averaging 5.24 kills per set, which is 1.58 more kills per set than any other league player. Similarly, she has 177 more points than any other Horizon League player and leads the circuit by 1.68 points per set. She was even more dominant in league play, averaging 5.70 kills and 6.28 points per set. That is 1.86 more kills and 1.71 more points per set than the second-place player in the respective categories.
Efficient: Even with her volume, Gursching has been incredibly efficient. Her .288 attack percentage ranks sixth in the conference, and her .297 mark in league play is the seventh-best mark. She has 657 more attempts than any other player ranking in the top 10 in attack percentage, and she is the only player in the top 10 who plays predominantly on the left pin.
YSU Records Set: Kills in a season (576), attempts in a season (1,412), points in a season (646.0), kills in a 3-set match (21), kills in a 4-set match (31), kills in a 5-set match (35), attempts in a 4-set match (70), attempts in a 5-set match (87), points in a 4-set match (24.0), points in a 5-set match (36.5).
Horizon League Records Set: Kills in a 25-point rally-scoring match (35), attempts in a 25-point rally-scoring match (87), kills in a season for 25-point rally-scoring (576).

Borum, Gursching Reach Milestones

Senior Josi Borum and sophomore Paula Gursching both celebrated career milestones during the final stretch of the regular season.
Borum notched her 1,000th assist as a Penguin in the match on Oct. 29 at IUPUI. She is one of 13 players in school history to reach 1,000 career assists, and her total of 1,082 ranks 12th in program history. Borum's overall collegiate total for assists is 1,522 assists, which includes one season at Chicago State in 2019.
Against Northern Kentucky on Nov. 11, Gursching became the 14th player in school history to record 1,000 career kills. She reached the milestone in just her 57th career match, which is the fastest to 1,000 in school history. Gursching's total currently sits at 1,006, which is the 12th-most in school history.

Boosts from New Faces

While returners Josi Borum, Paula Gursching and Isidora Sisic have certainly been prominent players for Youngstown State, newcomers Cameren George, Elise Moeller, Abbie Householder, Dayan Malave, Isabel Schaefbauer and Julia Sell have given the Penguins a boost.
Schaefbauer is the only player to appear in all 114 sets this season. A setter in YSU's 6-2 offense, the transfer from Winthrop leads the Penguins with 595 assists and 5.22 assists per set.
Malave has played in all but three sets this season and leads the Penguins with 81 total blocks. A transfer from Iowa Western Community College, Malave also has 114 kills from the middle blocker position. Also in the middle, Sell, a freshman, is averaging a team-best 0.90 blocks per set and has been a regular starter since Sept. 30.
On the outside, freshman Abbie Householder and Elise Moeller have been strong assets in their first years at YSU. Householder ranks third on the team with 184 kills, 1.88 kills per set, 269 digs and 2.74 digs per. Moeller has played in 36 sets and is averaging 1.25 kills and 1.25 digs per set.
George has played in 64 sets at defensive specialist in 2022. She has registered 25 digs, eight aces and six assists.
While not a newcomer, sophomore right-side hitter Kiyah Franklin has made a big jump from her freshman season. Franklin has played in 112 sets this season and is averaging 1.29 kills and 0.35 blocks per set. Last season, she played in one set.

Quick Hitters

Youngstown State is hitting .215 this season, which is its best attack percentage since 2014 and the second-best mark since 1999. YSU is averaging 12.46 kills per set, which is also its most since 2014.
The Penguins are averaging 1.66 aces per set, which is their most since the 2001 squad averaged 1.90 aces per set. That was the first season of rally scoring.
YSU had its best attack percentage ever in Horizon League play by hitting .214, and its 12.86 kills per set were the most by a Penguins team since 2012.
Academically, the Penguins earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the ninth consecutive campaign in 2021-22.
Nadia Pace is serving as the Vice President of the Horizon League's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2022-23.
Aimee Beaupre, Josi Borum, Lauren Lask and Isidora Sisic are serving as team captains this season. All four players are listed as seniors on the roster.
While YSU has seven seniors on its roster, Beaupre and Ellie Cox are the only two players who have been with the program for four years. The pair came in together and were freshmen on the 2019 squad. The other five seniors - Borum, Lask, Lebioda, Pace and Sisic - all transferred in prior to the 2020-21 season. Beaupre, Cox, Lask, Lebioda and Pace were recognized on Senior Day last Saturday as they played in their final match at Beeghly Center. Borum and Sisic have expressed interest in using their extra year granted by the NCAA through the COVID-19 waiver.

Echevarria Joins Staff

Fifth-Year Head Coach Aline Scott has a new assistant on the bench this season as Jesus Echevarria has joined the staff. Echevarria arrives from Evansville, where he spent two seasons developing the Purple Aces into a postseason program.
With Echevarria as a graduate assistant in 2021, Evansville improved from six wins to 21 and went on to win two matches in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Current Penguin Elise Moeller was at Evansville for each of Echevarria's two seasons there.