The Youngstown State volleyball team won the final two sets to rally from a 2-1 deficit and beat Bucknell in five sets on Saturday at the 2022 Western New York Invitational. The set scores against the Bison were 25-18, 9-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-9.
The Penguins improved to 5-4 with the victory, and they finished second at the final non-conference tournament of the season. Bucknell, which won earlier Saturday morning, dropped to 7-2 after the loss to Youngstown State.
All-tournament team selections Paula Gursching and Josi Borum both put on a showcase in the win over the Bison. Gursching was a workhorse with 26 kills and 66 attempts, which was eight kills and 19 attempts more than any other player. Borum became the first Penguin in school history to record multiple career triple-doubles as she finished with 10 kills, 25 assists and 16 digs.
Isidora Sisic led the defense with 20 digs, and Dayan Malave registered a match-best six blocks.
Catherine Jamison led Bucknell with 18 kills.
In a match that went five sets, there were just 15 ties and seven lead changes, and six of each of those came in the first set.
The Bison led as late as 17-16 in the opening set before Youngstown State went on a 9-1 run to take a 1-0 set lead in the match. A Bucknell serving error gave YSU a sideout, and the Penguins scored six straight points on Sisic's serve to take an insurmountable 23-17 lead. Gursching had three kills, and Sisic notched two aces in that rotation.
Bucknell scored six of the first seven points of the second set on its way to evening the match, and the Bison took advantage of six YSU serving errors in the 25-19 third set to take a 2-1 lead.
The Penguins never trailed in the fourth set, but Bucknell stayed within three points until YSU pulled away in the final sequence. The Bison were within a point at 20-19 before Gursching and Julia Snell combined for a block of Jamison that kickstarted a 5-0 run to end the set.
In the decisive fifth set, Youngstown State did not trail after taking a 3-2 lead on a Gursching kill. The margin was within one until the Penguins took an 8-6 advantage, and YSU ended the match on a 5-1 spurt after the score was 10-8. Gursching had back-to-back kills to extend the margin to 12-8, and Bucknell's final point came on a kill by Jamison that made the score 12-9. Gursching followed with her 26th kill of the afternoon, and Borum's 10th kill that gave her the triple-double made the score 14-9. The final point came on a bad set by Bucknell.
Youngstown State will have two more non-conference matches next week in Northeast Ohio against its closest two opponents from the Mid-American Conference. The Penguins will play at Akron at 6 p.m., and they'll welcome Kent State on Friday at 6 p.m.
