Volleyball Heads to Buffalo for Three Matches

Youngstown State at Western New York Invitational
Match 1	Friday, Sept. 9 \| 11 a.m.
Opponent & Coverage	at Buffalo - Watch on YouTube \| Live Stats
Match 2	Friday, Sept. 9 \| 4 p.m.
Opponent & Coverage	at Canisius - Watch \| Live Stats
Match 3	Saturday, Sept. 10 \| 2 p.m.
Opponent & Coverage	vs. Bucknell (at Canisius) - Live Stats
Live Tweets	@YSUVolleyball
Hash Tags	#GoGuins \| #HLVB
Mobile App	iOS Download \| Android Download

The Youngstown State volleyball team will travel to Buffalo this weekend to play three teams in two different venues as part of the 2022 Western New York Invitational. The tournament is being co-hosted by the University at Buffalo and Canisius, and Bucknell is also part of the field.

Youngstown State will play both of the Buffalo schools on Friday, taking on UB at 11 a.m. and Canisius at 4 p.m. Each of those matches will be true road matches at the opponent's arena, meaning YSU will make the 20-minute drive from Buffalo's Alumni Arena to Canisius' Koessler Athletic Center between contests. YSU will conclude its stay in Buffalo on Saturday at 2 p.m. as it plays Bucknell on the Canisius campus.

Friday's match against the Bulls will be streamed live on the UB Bulls YouTube channel, and the evening match at Canisius will be streamed live on the Golden Griffins Broadcast Network through GoGriffs.com. Saturday's match against Bucknell will have live stats provided by Canisius.

Recapping Last Week

Match Results

Match 1 vs. Central Michigan on Friday, Sept. 2: L, 0-3 | 25-20, 25-17, 25-18 - Recap | Box Score
Match 2 vs. Saint Louis on Friday, Sept. 2: L, 0-3 | 25-17, 25-13, 25-19 - Recap | Box Score
Match 3 vs. St. Thomas on Saturday, Sept. 3: W, 3-0 | 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 - Recap | Box Score

Youngstown State outhit St. Thomas .264 to .074 in the three-set victory, which was a great response after YSU hit .106 combined in its two matches on Friday. The .264 mark for the Penguins was their best since hitting .363 in the season-opener, and the .074 mark by the Tommies was the lowest by an opponent this season. St. Thomas had 21 kills and 14 errors in 95 attempts in the match.
Five of YSU's first six opponents have hit under .215 as a team. Valparaiso hit .277 against the Penguins on Aug. 27, but the other five teams that YSU has played has hit .213 or below. Youngstown State is 3-0 when opponents hit under .210 this season.
For the first time this season, YSU had three players reach double digits in kills when Paula Gursching and Kiyah Franklin finished with 11 and Josi Borum had 10 against the Tommies.
Josi Borum became the 17th player to record 600 career assists in a Penguins uniform in the win over St. Thomas. Among those 17 players, Borum has the most career kills with 336. Karla Everhart (2005-08) and Val Jeffery (2014-16) are the only other two Penguins to record at least 600 assists and 300 kills at YSU. Including her one season at Chicago State, Borum has 1,043 assists and 638 kills. Borum's .204 attack percentage is the highest of her career, and she's also averaging a career-best 0.5 blocks per set.
Paula Gursching surpassed 500 career kills in the contest against St. Thomas in what was just her 35th career match. Gursching is averaging 4.02 kills per set for her career, which is significantly higher than the current mark of 3.33 by Vickie Robinson (1996-99). Gursching shattered the school record for kills by a freshman last season with 430. Gursching is averaging 3.80 kills per set, down from 4.06 last season, but her attack percentage is .225, which is an improvement from .208 in 2021.
Gursching was named to the all-tournament team at the Billiken Invitational, which was her second straight week earning all-tournament accolades. Gursching the Penguins with 29 kills and three aces over nine sets, reaching double digits twice and collecting her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs in the sweep of St. Thomas..
Kiyah Franklin had a breakout week offensively as she led the Penguins with a .385 attack percentage on 39 attempts. She was incredibly efficient over the final two matches at the Billiken Invitational with 18 kills in 25 attempts while having just three errors, which resulted in a .600 attack percentage.
Abbie Householder made the first two starts of her career last week as she was part of the first group of Penguins on the floor against both Saint Louis and St. Thomas. She just missed her first career double-double with nine kills and 16 digs in the three-set win over the Tommies. A freshman outside hitter from Canfield, a suburb of Youngstown, Householder is averaging 1.93 kills and 2.53 digs per set.
Nadia Pace had a team-best seven blocks in the nine sets for an average of 0.78 blocks per set. For the year, Pace has team-highs of 17 total blocks for an average of 0.85 blocks per set.
Isidora Sisic had another solid week as she grows into the libero role. Sisic averaged a team-high 3.33 digs per set, and she continues to lead the Penguins through two weeks with 3.38 digs per set.

Scouting the Opponents

Buffalo

Buffalo is 4-2 this season with 2-1 marks at each of its first two tournaments of the season. The Bulls have beaten Horizon League member Cleveland State twice, winning 3-1 at the Buffalo Invite and 3-0 last weekend at the Lehigh Steel Tournament.
The Bulls rank in the top half of the MAC in many statistical categories, and they surrender the fewest aces per set in the conference at 0.87. They are also third in kills per set (13.74) and fourth in blocks per set (2.04).
Abby Leigh ranks third in the MAC in blocks per set (1.13), and she's fourth in attack percentage (.405). Katrin Trebichavska leads the Bulls with 3.30 kills per set, and she also has a team-best 11 aces.
Buffalo was picked to finish fourth in the MAC East in the conference's preseason coaches poll.

Canisius

Canisius is 2-4 this season with one of those wins being a 3-2 victory over Horizon League member Purdue Fort Wayne. The Golden Griffins went 2-1 at their season-opening tournament in Fort Wayne, Ind., but went 0-3 this past weekend at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational.
Freshman setter Ella Bourque has been named The Molton MAAC Rookie of the Week for each of the first two weeks of the season. She leads the MAAC in total assists with 215 and in assists per set with 8.96.
Ella Loussia and Taylor Baldwin are each averaging 3.0 kills per set, and Loussia has a team-best 15 aces in 24 sets. Bree Long averages 3.96 digs per set, and Alexa Robinson leads the Golden Griffins with 0.88 blocks per set.
Long, a senior libero, was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team, and Canisius was picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll.

Bucknell

Bucknell is off to its best start in school history with an unbeaten record through six matches entering this weekend. The Bison lost three sets over three sets at the Red Flash Classic and just one set at last weekend's Bucknell Invitational.
Bri Frazilus has been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week in both of the first two weeks of the season. Last weekend at the Bucknell Invitational, the freshman outside hitter logged 42 kills and 38 digs in 10 sets while picking up a pair of double-doubles. She has 85 more attempts than any other teammate and has accounted for nearly 27.7 percent of Bucknell's total attacks. Catherina Jamison is averaging 3.24 kills per set on a .309 attack percentage.
Libero Jordan Hardy leads the Patriot League with 5.91 digs per set, and the Bison pace the conference as a team with 18.32 digs per set.
Bucknell was picked to finish eighth in the 2022 Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Bison need just one more victory to match their win total last season when they finished 7-18.

Up Next

Youngstown State will play two matches in Northeast Ohio next week as it takes on Akron and Kent State. The Penguins will play the Zips in Akron on Thursday at 6 p.m., and they'll host the Golden Flashes in Beeghly Center on Friday at 6 p.m.