Youngstown State senior setter Isabel Schaefbauer became the 14th player to record 1,000 assists as a Penguin in YSU's three-set loss at Wright State on Tuesday.
Schaefbauer entered the evening's match against the Raiders with 989 assists, and her milestone assist came early in the third set. Josi Borum, who shares setting duties with Schaefbauer in YSU's 6-2 offense, got the kill.
The Raiders won the match 27-25, 25-16, 25-22 to improve to 12-9 overall and a Horizon League-leading 8-2 in conference play. YSU is 7-14 and 2-8.
Dayan Malave had nine kills in 13 attempts to lead the Penguins offensively, and she added a match-best seven blocks. Jazmin Vergara had 13 digs to go along with her seven kills, and Maria Insana had two aces.
Schaefbauer finished with 15 assists to up her YSU total to 1,004. Her career tally is 1,384, which includes 380 from her two seasons at Winthrop. Notably, she also notched her 1,000th overall assist at Wright State's C.J. McLin Gymnasium last November in YSU's match against Green Bay in the 2022 Horizon League Volleyball Championship.
Aaliyah Bowers had 13 kills, and Sam Ott posted 12 kills in 21 swings to lead Wright State offensively. The Raiders also benefitted from eight aces in the match.
The Penguins battled throughout the evening, and they fought off six set points in the opening set before falling 27-25. YSU trailed 24-19 before Malave had a kill and consecutive block assists to spark a 5-0 run. That burst ended with a 58-second rally that allowed YSU to tie the score at 24. Malave tied the score again at 25 with her sixth kill of the set, but the Raiders had back-to-back kills to prevail.
Wright State closed the second set on a 7-1 run to take a two-set lead in the match, and the home team also scored seven of the first nine points of the third set. Schaefbauer's 1,000th assist got the Penguins to within 7-3, and YSU went on to tie the score at 14, 15, 16 and 17. A block by Malave brought the Penguins to within 23-22 before the Raiders scored the final two points of the night.
Youngstown State will play its only two home matches of October this coming weekend as part of Homecoming on campus. YSU will take on Cleveland State on Friday at 6 p.m., and the Penguins will host Oakland on Saturday at 6 p.m.
