The Youngstown State volleyball team posted its best hitting percentage of 2023 in the season finale, and the Penguins celebrated Senior Night with a three-set victory over Robert Morris on Friday at Beeghly Center. The set scores were 25-19, 25-15, 25-15.
YSU finished the campaign with a 9-20 overall record and a 4-14 mark in Horizon League play, and the Penguins won two of their last three matches. Friday's win capped the careers of YSU's four seniors, Josi Borum, Kiley Mitchell, Elise Moeller and Isidora Sisic.
The Penguins hit .352 for the match, and they were at .333 or above in all three sets. YSU had 45 kills on 108 attempts while committing just seven attack errors, and it did not have an attack error the entire first set.
Sophomore Abbie Householder had an impressive night with 13 kills, 15 digs and three aces for the match's lone double-double, but Friday was all about the seniors.
Borum posted 17 assists, nine digs and eight kills, which is a great all-around match for some but was a typical night for the fifth-year setter and right-side hitter. Borum was just shy of recording her 20th career triple-double, and her eight kills came on just 16 swings.
Moeller had nine kills, nine digs and three blocks to finish off the best season of her career, while Sisic registered an ace and 10 digs to surpass 900 digs in her Penguins career. Mitchell finished with four kills and four blocks, which were both season highs.
Youngstown State went on a 6-1 run behind Householder's serve in the opening set to take a 20-12 lead, and it went on to win 25-19. That ended up being the closest margin of the entire night.
YSU's only deficit in the second set was 1-0, and the Penguins pulled away again in the middle of the set with a 6-2 burst that featured a pair of kills and a block by Householder. RMU got no closer than five the rest of the way.
Robert Morris led by two points three times in the third set, which was its biggest advantage of the night. After the Colonials held a 10-8 margin, YSU scored seven straight points as part of a 17-5 run to end the night. A Mitchell kill gave the Penguins an 18-11 lead and forced RMU's final timeout, and Borum and Moeller had kills down the stretch as YSU pulled away.
