The Youngstown State volleyball team pushed a nine-win Kent State squad to five sets before ultimately falling 3-2 to the Golden Flashes on Friday evening in the final non-conference matches for both teams. The set scores were 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 15-7.
The Penguins finished the non-league portion of their schedule with a 6-5 mark while their nearest Division I rivals finished at 9-2.
Josi Borum posted her second triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 28 assists and 10 digs, and the Penguins got double-doubles from each of their left-pin hitters. Sophomore Paula Gursching recorded a match-high 24 kills and 12 digs, and freshman Abbie Householder finished with 12 kills and a team-best 15 digs.
Five different Penguins reached double digits in digs, and the Penguins also had 10 blocks defensively.
YSU limited Kent State's top hitter coming into the match, Mackenzie McGuire, to 13 kills, but Savannah Matthews carried the weight with 20 kills on 59 attempts. Libero Erin Gardner had 28 digs and was solid in serve receive.
Despite a match that went five sets where the final point total was within four points, there were just 14 ties and three lead changes throughout. None of those happened over the final two sets.
The Penguins hit a blistering .444 with 17 kills and just one error in 36 attempts in the opening set to win 25-22. Gursching, who had 21 kills in three sets Thursday night at Akron, stayed hot in the early going on Friday and had seven kills in that first set.
Kent State answered by taking the second set 25-20, and the Golden Flashes claimed a crucial third-set victory with a late run. The Penguins led 19-16 following a kill by Nadia Pace, and their lead was 21-19 after an ace by Isidora Sisic. The Golden Flashes made a lineup change to shore up their serve receive, and they finished the set on a 6-1 run. YSU's final lead was 22-21 following a Kent State serving error, but a Penguin serving error returned the set to a tie. Danie Tyson followed with back-to-back kills, and Bryan Roberts had an ace on set point.
Youngstown State stepped up to lead from start to finish in the third set, beginning with a 3-0 run and extending its lead to 17-9 at the midway point. The lead grew to as much as 23-13 following a Gursching kill, and YSU finished the set at 25-16.
The Golden Flashes scored the first two points of the fifth set, and Youngstown State was never able to string enough points together to make a run. The Golden Flashes' lead extended to 6-2 following Gursching's second attack error of the set, and YSU got no closer than three the rest of the way. Kent State hit .579 in the final set with 11 kills in 19 swings with no errors.
Youngstown State will open Horizon League play on Tuesday by hosting Kent State at 6 p.m.
