Behind a noteworthy 21 kills from sophomore outside hitter Paula Gursching, the Youngstown State volleyball team earned its second sweep at Akron in school history with a 3-0 win at James A. Rhodes Arena on Thursday evening. The set scores were 25-20, 25-19, 25-19.
Gursching's 21 kills were the most by a Penguin in a three-set match since Ebony Barbosa's 21 kills against Navy on Sept. 9, 2006. Of note, sets were played until 30 points instead of 25 until 2008. Only three Division I players have had more kills in a three-set match than Gursching had Thursday against the Zips.
Youngstown State has now won three straight matches and has matched its win total from the 2021 season with six. The Penguins are 6-4 while Akron dropped to 3-7.
Gursching's 21 kills came on 40 attempts, and the Zips were only able to force her into two errors. She hit .475 on her own, and the Penguins hit an impressive .379 as a team. Youngstown State had a .375 attack percentage in the first set, a .275 mark in the second set and an attention-grabbing .516 in the third.
Abbie Householder added her second career double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs, and she hit .409. Josi Borum had five kills and 20 assists, Isidora Sisic had a match-best 15 digs, and Nadia Pace led all players with three blocks.
Teagan Ochaya led Akron with 13 kills, and Chloe Werner added 10.
Gursching had four kills in the opening set, and she followed with 10 in 18 attempts in the second set. The native of Schwalbach am Taunus, Germany, then had seven kills without an error in 11 attempts in the third set to finish off her night and the Penguins' three-set triumph.
Youngstown State's first lead of the evening came at 13-12 in the opening set on an ace by Sisic, and the Penguins didn't trail again the rest of the set. Their lead was 22-20 when they scored the final three points on a kill by Kiyah Franklin, a block by Borum and Dayan Malave, and an ace by Isabel Schaefbauer.
The Penguins surged ahead again around a similar point of the second set when a four-point run gave them an 18-15 lead. Their advantage was 21-19 when Gursching flexed her muscles with four straight kills to end the set.
In the third set, YSU took the lead at 6-5 and held the upper hand until Akron tied the score at 15. Householder got a kill for the sideout, and the Penguins didn't trail again. At 18-17, YSU ended the match on a 7-2 run that featured five kills by Gursching and one termination each by Householder and Malave.
Youngstown State will host Kent State on Friday evening at Beeghly Center in the final non-conference match of the season. First serve will be at 6 p.m., and fans in attendance will receive a YSU stadium cup.
