Youngstown State will battle to clinch a spot in the Horizon League Volleyball Championship this weekend as it returns to Beeghly Center for the final two matches of the regular season. The Penguins will host Northern Kentucky on Friday at 6 p.m., and they'll take on Wright State on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the regular-season finale.

Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ as well as the new Penguins All-Access platform for international viewers available at ysusports.com/watch. Live stats will also be available through SIDEARM Sports through links on the YSU volleyball schedule.

The Penguins have won five straight matches to improve their record to 14-13 overall and 8-8 in conference play. They have set a new school record for Horizon League victories, and getting one more win this weekend will lock up a spot in the conference tournament for YSU. One win by the Penguins or one loss by Oakland this week will give Youngstown State its first invitation to the conference tournament since 2014. YSU can finish as high as fourth in the final regular-season standings and as low as seventh, and only the top six will qualify for the tournament.

Fan Information

Gameday Guide

• There will be free admission to both matches this weekend.
• There will be a YSU Tumbler Giveaway, courtesy of Allstate Rocco Nolfi Agencies, for the first 100 fans attending Friday evening's volleyball match against Northern Kentucky.
• Saturday will be Senior Day, and Aimee Beaupre, Ellie Cox, Lauren Lask, Amanda Lebioda and Nadia Pace will be recognized after the match for their contributions to the program.

Recapping Last Week

Match 1 at Cleveland State on Tuesday, Nov. 1: W, 3-0 | 25-21, 25-18, 25-20 | Recap | Box Score
Match 2 at Robert Morris on Friday, Nov. 4: W, 3-1 | 25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 25-21 | Recap | Box Score

• Youngstown State beat Cleveland State and Robert Morris on the road last week to extend its winning streak to five matches. That matches the longest Horizon League winning streak in school history set in 2014, and it is also the longest winning streak of any kind in eight years.
• In the victory over the Vikings last Tuesday, the Penguins earned their first sweep in Cleveland since 1995. YSU outhit Cleveland State .275-.121, and Paula Gursching had 18 kills while hitting .341. Abbie Householder hit .381 while registering nine kills and nine digs, and Kiyah Franklin contributed seven kills while hitting .300.
• Against Robert Morris, YSU fought off the Colonials from another historic performance by Gursching. Gursching posted 31 kills on 70 attempts, which were both school records for a four-set match.
• Gursching averaged 7.0 kills and 7.79 points per set in the two matches last week while hitting at a .325 clip. She broke YSU's single-season kills record in the match at Cleveland State, and her total entering the final weekend is 562.
• Josi Borum notched her 10th triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 24 assists and 19 digs at RMU. She averaged 2.43 kills, 6.43 assists, 4.0 digs and 0.57 blocks per set last week.
• Julia Sell recorded eight blocks last week for an average of 1.14 per set. She ranks 10th in the Horizon League this season with 0.93 blocks per set.
• Libero Isidora Sisic had one of her best weeks defensively with 38 total digs and 5.43 digs per set. She added 10 assists and a team-high four aces.
• Householder nearly had two double-doubles last week. She had nine kills and nine digs at Cleveland State, and she posted nine kills and 12 digs at Robert Morris. During YSU's five-match winning streak, she is averaging 2.48 kills per set on a .229 attack percentage while also contributing 2.57 digs per set.

Previewing the Opponents

Northern Kentucky

• Northern Kentucky has locked up a top-three seed in the Horizon League Volleyball Championship, and it will receive the second seed and a bye into the semifinals with a win this weekend or a loss by Green Bay. The Norse are 15-12 overall and 13-3 in conference play.
• NKU leads the Horizon League with 2.65 blocks per set, and it ranks in the top half of every other category except for aces. Conference opponents are hitting just .146 against NKU.
• Reilly Briggs leads Northern Kentucky offensively with 3.18 kills per set, and Allie Siefke leads the conference with 1.25 blocks per set. Sequoia Hunt, who missed the first match against YSU, ranks fourth in the circuit with 1.17 blocks per set. Hunt and Briggs rank seventh and eighth in the conference in attack percentage for NKU's 6-2 offense.
• First Meeting: Paula Gursching set school records with 35 kills and 87 attempts as YSU lost in five sets at Northern Kentucky on Oct. 15. The match was tied 1-1 when YSU held a 23-20 lead in the third, but NKU fought off six different set points to win 32-30. The Penguins bounced back to win the fourth 25-23, but NKU prevailed 15-10 in the fifth. The Norse had 20 blocks in the match.

Wright State

• Wright State has already clinched the Horizon League regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament. The Raiders are 24-3 overall and are 16-0 in league play. All three of their losses came in a tournament at Iowa State on Sept. 9-10, and they have dropped just eight sets in conference play.
• In Horizon League matches, Wright State leads the conference in hitting percentage (.255), opponent hitting percentage (.139), assists per set (13.02), kills per set (14.04) and aces (1.82), and the Raiders are second in digs (18.20) and fifth in blocks (2.00) per set.
• Individually, four Wright State players average between 2.54 and 2.83 kills per set. Taylor Bransfield leads the way with 2.83 kills per set on a .288 attack percentage. Callie Martin leads the league with 0.45 aces per set while adding 2.68 kills per set, and libero Jenna Story is pacing the conference with 5.37 digs per set.
• First Meeting: Wright State held YSU to a season-low .067 attack percentage behind 10 blocks in a three-set win in Dayton on Oct. 14. Paula Gursching had 10 kills but also 10 attack errors. Sam Ott had 11 kills, and Martin recorded five of Wright State's eight aces.

News & Notes

• With 14 wins under its belt and two matches still on the schedule, Youngstown State already has its most wins since going 17-14 in 2014. That was the last season that the Penguins qualified for the Horizon League Volleyball Championship. YSU has 14 wins for just the third time since joining the Horizon League in 2001, and the Penguins have set a new standard for Horizon League victories with eight.
• Youngstown State is hitting .221 this season, which is its best attack percentage since 1999. The Penguins hit .181 in 2021, and they've hit .200 over a full season just twice since 2004. Youngstown State's 1.69 aces per set are its most since 2001, and the 12.68 kills per set is the most since 2014.
• The Penguins have a pair of national statistical leaders on their roster. Through matches completed on Tuesday, Paula Gursching leads all Division I players in total kills (562), total attacks (1,374) and total points (630.0). She has more kills than any other player in the NCAA, regardless of division. Gursching ranks fourth in Division I in kills and points per set, and she's sixth in attacks per set.
• Josi Borum has a commanding lead in the national rankings for triple-doubles. Borum has 10, which is four more than any other Division I player. Only seven other players have had more than two this season. Reese Sherwood from Division II Caldwell (New Jersey) and Morgan Ilsley from Division III Huntingdon (Alabama) are the only NCAA volleyball players regardless of division with more than 10 triple-doubles.
• Gursching has set the following school records in 2022: kills in a season (562), attempts in a season (1,374), points in a season (630.0), 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). She has set these Horizon League records: 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 (562).
• Gursching has been named a Horizon League Player of the Week in each of the last two weeks, bringing her season total to six. Only three other student-athletes have won the award twice in 2022.
• Among Horizon League freshmen, Abbie Householder ranks second with 2.80 digs per set, fourth with 1.91 kills per set and fourth with 2.28 points per set.

Up Next

• If the results of this weekend go in Youngstown State's favor, it would play in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship on Friday, Nov. 18, at Wright State.