YSU / DoubleTree-Youngstown Volleyball Invitational

	Date	Location
	Friday Aug. 26 | 1 PM	Beeghly Center Youngstown, Ohio	ESPN+	Live Stats
	Friday Aug. 26 | 7 PM	Beeghly Center Youngstown, Ohio	ESPN+	Live Stats
	Saturday Aug. 27 | 2 PM	Beeghly Center Youngstown, Ohio	ESPN+	Live Stats

The Youngstown State volleyball team will begin its 2022 campaign by hosting the YSU / DoubleTree-Youngstown Volleyball Invitational this Friday and Saturday in Beeghly Center. The Penguins will play three matches at the multi-team event as they'll welcome Delaware State, Idaho and Valparaiso to Youngstown.

This is the third time in head coach Aline Scott's five seasons that the Penguins have opened the season by hosting a tournament. YSU also hosted in 2019 and went 3-0 on its way to the championship, and it hosted in 2021 while posting a 1-2 record. The 2018 season was Scott's first on campus, and the 2020 season was pushed to the spring of 2021 due to the pandemic.

YSU returns 11 student-athletes from last year's squad that finished 6-23 overall but gained momentum and showed improvement in the final four weeks. The Penguins return their top five attackers (Paula Gursching, Amanda Lebioda, Josi Borum, Ellie Cox and Nadia Pace) and their starting setter (Borum) and libero (Caitlyn Jones) from that solid final stretch. Add in Division I transfers Elise Moeller and Isabel Schaefbauer, JUCO transfer Dayan Malave and freshmen Cameren George, Abbie Householder and Julia Sell, and the Penguins are optimistic that they could exceed external expectations in 2022.

Fan Information

• Tournament Central
• Gameday Guide
• There will be free admission to all matches this weekend.
• Fans in attendance at YSU's matches on Friday will receive a schedule magnet.
• Fans coming to Saturday's match will receive a team poster.

Scouting The Opponents

Delaware State

Delaware State was picked to finish second in the MEAC preseason poll of the conference's coaches and sports information representatives. DSU received four out of a possible 16 first-place votes to finish just behind Howard, which it shared the 2021 MEAC regular-season title with. The Hornets advanced to the NIVC in 2021 for their first postseason berth in program history, and it went 11-1 in non-league play. Middle blocker Alondra Maldonado was a All-MEAC First Team selection in 2021 after ranking second in the league in kills at 3.15 per set, seventh in hitting percentage (.298) , and ninth in blocks (0.76 per set). All-time, the Penguins are 1-0 against Delaware State with a 3-0 victory at Morehead State's Eagle Challenge in 2017.

Idaho

The Vandals are under first-year head coach Chris Gonzalez after having Debbie Buchanan at the helm for the previous 22 seasons. Idaho's top two outside hitters from a year ago, Allison Munday and Delaney Nicoll, both return after averaging more than three kills per set apiece in 2021. The Vandals are without last year's leaders in assists, digs and blocks per set. Idaho was picked to finish ninth in the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' poll. This will be the first meeting on the volleyball court between Idaho and Youngstown State.

Valparaiso

The Penguins and Beacons are no strangers on the court as Saturday will be the 38th meeting all-time between the programs, who were previously members of the Mid-Continent Conference and the Horizon League together. Last season, Valparaiso won 3-0 at Toledo's Blue & Gold Tournament in the first-ever non-conference meeting between the two teams. The Beacons had one of their best seasons in program history in 2021 as they finished 26-10 overall and advanced to the championship match of the NIVC. Valpo returns 10 letterwinners and two redshirt freshmen from last year's squad, but it lost a quartet of players who combined for eight All-MVC honors during their careers. Bella Ravotto is the top returning attacker after averaging 2.04 kills per set in 2021.

News & Notes

Bulk of Offense Returns from Improved Unit

The Penguins had their best offense in Coach Aline Scott's four-tenure in 2021, having their best attack percentage since 2015, their most kills per attempt since 2016 and their most aces per set since 2001. Youngstown State had a .181 overall attack percentage and improved to .187 in league play, marking just the fourth time in YSU's 21 years in the conference that it hit a higher percentage in league play. That mark was bolstered over the final nine matches of the campaign as YSU hit .210 once Borum settled in as the everyday setter.

Gursching Took Horizon League by Storm

Paula Gursching was the catalyst for the offense as she turned in one of the best seasons in program history regardless of class as a freshman in 2021. Gursching was named All-Horizon League and to the conference's All-Freshman Team after pacing the league in kills (4.06) and points (4.70) per set. Gursching broke numerous school records during the season, including shattering the previous mark for kills by a freshman by 67. Her 430 total kills were the most by a Penguin since 1998, the third-most ever and the most since rally-scoring began in 2001. Gursching was just the second freshman since 2010 to lead the Horizon League in kills per set, and she was the only freshman in that time frame to pace the conference in points per set. On the national level, only three freshmen in the country had more total kills or kills per set than Gursching.

Echevarria Joins Staff

Head Coach Aline Scott will have 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.

Catching the National Spotlight in Kent

Youngstown State caught national attention for a night in September when it served 24 aces in a four-set match against Duquesne in a neutral-site match at Kent State. The 24 aces were five more than any other team had in a match of any length during the season, and it topped the previous school record for aces in a match by seven. YSU was just two aces shy of the NCAA record for aces in a four-set match. Gursching had 13 of those aces, the most by a Division I player in a four-set match since 2003, as part of a triple-double.

Improvement in Second Half

The win over Duquesne on Sept. 17 avenged a three-set loss to the Dukes in the opening match of the season, and it gave an early glimpse of YSU's improvement over the season. After being swept in eight of their first 10 Horizon League matches, YSU went at least four sets in seven straight matches in the second half of the conference slate. The Penguins beat Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris, teams they lost to in the first meeting, and they took Green Bay and Oakland to five sets after being swept earlier in the season.

International Flavor

The YSU volleyball program is a melting pot of cultures with six countries being represented on the bench. Josi Borum, Ellie Cox, Kiyah Franklin, Cameren George, Abbie Householder, Caitlyn Jones, Lauren Lask, Kiley Mitchell, Elise Moeller, Nadia Pace, Isabel Schaefbauer and Julia Sell are from the United States; Head Coach Aline Scott and Amanda Lebioda are from Brazil; Assistant Coach Jesus Echevarria and Dayan Malave hail from Puerto Rico; Aimee Beaupre is from Canada; Paula Gursching is a native of Germany; and Isidora Sisic is from Serbia.

Borum Fills Many Roles

Senior Josi Borum has filled many roles in her first two seasons as a Penguin. She has started at each pin, has been a setter in a 6-2 offense and been the primary setter in a 5-1. Last season she was one of two players to appear in all 106 sets, and she ranked second on the team in kills (177), assists (403), aces (24) and blocks (41) while leading the team with 303 digs. As the full-time setter over the final nine matches of 2021, she averaged 9.76 assists per set over her final nine matches as YSU hit .210 as a team.

Jones Settled In At Libero

Sophomore Caitlyn Jones served as the Penguins' libero over most of the final month of last season. Over her final nine matches of the season, she reached double digits in digs in each match and averaged 4.58 digs per set in that nine-match stretch. She posted 31 digs, the third-most in a rally-scoring match in program history, at Oakland on Oct. 24.

Quick Hitters

• Academically, the Penguins earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the ninth consecutive campaign in 2021-22.
• Nadia Pace was voted to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for her combined accomplishments on the court and in the classroom. Pace was YSU's fifth All-Academic honoree since 2018
• 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.

Up Next

Youngstown State will be on the road the next two weekends for tournaments in Saint Louis, Mo., and Buffalo, N.Y. Next week, YSU will battle Central Michigan, Saint Louis and St. Thomas at the Billiken Invitational.