The Youngstown State volleyball team swept Idaho in the afternoon and battled through a five-set marathon to defeat Delaware State in the evening on Friday at the YSU / DoubleTree-Youngstown Volleyball Invitational.
The Penguins took care of business against the Vandals in Beeghly Center in the afternoon by sweeping the Vandals, and YSU was in line for another sweep as it took a 2-0 lead on the Hornets. Delaware State battled back to tie the match at 2-2, and the teams battled until 16-14 in the fifth set before the Penguins prevailed.
Youngstown State will battle Valparaiso in the championship match of the tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m. Valparaiso went unbeaten on Friday, topping Delaware State in four sets and Idaho in three.
Match 1: YSU 3, Idaho 0
Against the Vandals, the Penguins hit at least .333 in all three sets and .363 for the match as they opened the season with a 3-0 sweep behind a large contingent of supporting student-athletes from other YSU teams.
Youngstown State had 41 kills, 12 more than Idaho, and committed just eight errors as it won its 2022 season opener. The set scores against the Vandals were 25-14, 25-22, 25-17.
Paula Gursching tied for match-high honors with 13 kills on 27 attempts, and Nadia Pace had eight kills in just 12 tries. Elise Moeller had seven kills in 17 swings without committing an error in her Penguins debut.
Setters Josi Borum and Isabel Schaefbauer combined for 33 assists, and Borum added six kills and a team-best eight digs to her 18 assists. Pace and Dayan Malave each had two blocks, and YSU held the Vandals to a .156 attack percentage.
The Penguins didn't commit an attack error and did not trail in the opening set as it won 25-14. An early 4-0 run Gursching's serve gave YSU a 6-2 cushion, and it led for the remainder of the set. A Kiyah Franklin kill later capped a 5-1 spurt that upped the lead to 19-10, and the final margin of 11 was the largest of the set.
The second set was the closest of the match with 15 ties and three lead changes, and Idaho led as late as 20-19. Gursching had a kill to tie the set and force a sideout, and Pace registered back-to-back blocks to push the lead to 22-20. A kill by Moeller and an ace by Caitlyn Jones made it 24-21, and Franklin's kill at 24-22 gave YSU a 2-0 lead.
The Penguins then scored the first five points of the third set, and Idaho got no closer than 7-5.
Match 2: YSU 3, Delaware State 2
Youngstown State endured 40 ties and 21 lead changes in its five-set victory over Delaware State to improve to 2-0 on the day. The set scores against the Hornets were 25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 16-14.
Gursching led all players with 26 kills in 72 attempts, which was a school record for attempts in the rally-scoring era. She had just five errors on those 72 swings and hit .292 while having at least five kills in each set. Abbie Householder came off the bench to post 10 kills, her final coming on match point.
Isidora Sisic reached 20 digs from the libero position, Pace added six more blocks, and Schaefbuaer notched a double-double with 29 assists and 11 digs.
The Penguins emerged despite 17 serving errors and 10 aces by Delaware State. Eleven of those serving errors came in the first two sets, but YSU hit .257 in the first set and .333 in the second as it took a 2-0 lead.
Delaware State's blocking ability got it back in the match. The Hornets blocked five attacks in the third set and claimed the set despite having just nine kills. DSU then had seven blocks, one more than YSU as it also had a strong defensive set, in the fourth to even the match.
In the tiebreaker set, YSU battled through 11 ties and two lead changes. Delaware State's largest lead came at 6-4 after back-to-back kills from Karen Cordero. A ball-handling error sparked a 5-1 YSU run that put the Penguins ahead 9-7, and they did not trail again.
Delaware State tied the score at nine, 10, 12, 13 and 14 before Householder connected for kills on the final two points of the night.
