The Youngstown State volleyball team went toe-to-toe with Green Bay in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship as the best season in eight years ended with a 3-1 loss to the Phoenix. The set scores were 21-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-23.
Josi Borum had 15 kills and 21 assists, and four other Penguins had at least seven kills. Abbie Householder posted 10 kills, Elise Moeller finished with nine, Dayan Malave had eight, and Kiyah Franklin registered seven. Malave hit .538, and she and Householder both finished with four blocks.
Youngstown State's season that was a year of growth finishes with a 14-16 record. YSU qualified for the conference tournament and posted its most since 2014, and it set a new school record with eight Horizon League wins.
Green Bay's Alexandra Zakutney posted a match-high 22 kills, and Green Bay hit .357 as a team.
Without Horizon League Player of the Year Paula Gursching, who was out with an injury, the Penguins hit .471 in the opening set to take a 1-0 lead on the Phoenix. Malave had kills on all five of her attempts in the set, and Borum posted six kills in eight swings without an error.
Youngstown State went on a 6-1 run that finished with a Franklin kill to take an 11-7 lead, and the Penguins held the upper hand until Green Bay took a 14-13 advantage. That was the Phoenix's final lead of the set.
The last of 12 ties in the set was at 19-19, and a Householder kill sparked a 6-2 run to end the set. Malave and Borum blocked Shannon Coughlin to create a set-point opportunity, and Moeller finished it with a kill. That was YSU's 20th kill in the set, and the Penguins hit .471 collectively in the stanza.
Green Bay hit .423 in each of the next two sets, and aggressive serves kept the Penguins out of system. YSU hit .074 in the second and .094 in the third as the Phoenix won 25-13 and 25-14 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth, Householder and Moeller combined for 10 kills in 21 attempts as the Penguins pushed the third-seeded Phoenix to 25-23. Green Bay's only deficit was 1-0, but YSU stayed within five to allow for a final push. After the Phoenix took an 18-13 lead, YSU scored seven of the next nine points to tie the score at 20-20. The final two points in the burst came when Isidora Sisic aced the Green Bay libero on back-to-back serves, which were YSU's first two aces of the match.
YSU tied the score again at 21 on a kill by Moeller, and another kill by the junior outside hitter made it 23-22. The Penguins saved one match point on a Householder kill came at 24-22, but Green Bay finished the match on the next point.
