The Youngstown State volleyball team will play its two closest Division I rivals this week as it concludes its non-conference schedule against Akron and Kent State.

Thursday's home match against the Zips will be a special Kids Day event with students from area schools in attendance. The contest will begin at 11 a.m., and it will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The Penguins will then play at Kent State on Friday at 4 p.m. in the final non-league contest of the campaign.

This marks the third straight season that the Penguins will play both Akron and Kent State, and it is the second straight season in which the matches are part of a two-day showcase with Horizon League member Cleveland State. While YSU will play Akron and Kent State on Friday, the Vikings will play the Mid-American Conference foes on opposite days.

Gameday Info

Fan Information

• Thursday will be a special Kids Day match as students from several area schools will be in attendance. Students will be seated behind the team benches, and other fans can sit across from the benches or in the end zones.
• Concessions will be available in the front (South) lobby of Beeghly Center
• There will be free admission to Thursday's match

Recapping Last Week

Youngstown State picked up one win last weekend at the Owls Paradise Classic, which was hosted by Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla. The Penguins topped Bethune-Cookman in four sets to begin the tournament, but they fell in their next two contests to FAU and Incarnate Word. After the first three weeks of the season, Youngstown State holds a 4-5 overall record.

Match 1: Friday, Sept. 8 vs. Bethune-Cookman: W, 3-1 (25-10, 25-15, 20-25, 25-13) | Recap | Box Score
Match 2: Friday, Sept. 8 at Florida Atlantic: L, 0-3 (15-25, 23-25, 20-25) | Recap | Box Score
Match 3: Saturday, Sept. 9 vs. UIW: L, 1-3 (20-25, 20-25, 25-19, 20-25) | Recap | Box Score

• Fifth-year senior/right-side hitter Josi Borum was named to her second-straight all-tournament team. The native of Sterling, Ill., averaged 4.91 assists, 2.55 kills, 2.36 digs and 0.36 blocks per set. She registered a .269 attack percentage, and she added a pair of aces. She approached a pair of triple-doubles over the weekend, finishing two digs shy against FAU and one kill shy against UIW.
• Jazmin Vergara paced the offense with 35 kills and 3.18 kills per set at the tournament. She reached double digits in kills in all three matches, and she tied her career high with 18 digs in the contest against Bethune-Cookman. Vergara ranks third in the Horizon League with 3.52 kills per set this season, and she sits fourth with 3.91 points per set.
• Freshman Jocelyn Jourdan made her collegiate debut and played in one set in each match. She posted six kills and did not commit an attack error in 16 attempts. She added one ace.
• Julia Sell had at least three blocks in each match, and she blocked five attacks in the four-setter against UIW. Sell is averaging 1.06 blocks this season, which ranks third in the Horizon League.
• Isabel Schaefbauer led the Penguins with 5.27 assists per set, and she ranked second on the squad with three aces.
• As a team, the Penguins hit .223 in their three matches in Florida. That was an improvement from their .178 mark over the first six matches.

News & Notes

A Glimpse at the Guins

Milestone Watch:

• Josi Borum is eight digs away from 1,000 in her career, which includes 229 from her freshman season at Chicago State in 2019. She is also 45 kills away from 1,000. Her current total of 955 includes 302 from her freshman campaign as a Cougar.
• Isabel Schaefbauer needs seven assists to reach 800 as a Penguin. She has 1,173 in her career, which includes 380 in two seasons at Winthrop.
• Julia Sell is six blocks shy of 100 in her career.
• Isidora Sisic has 739 digs in her collegiate career, needing 11 more to reach 750. She has had 714 of those digs in a Penguins jersey and 25 when she was a true freshman at Chicago State.

Returners Overview: Youngstown State returns nine players who appeared in at least 16 matches last season, including Second-Team All-Horizon League selection Josi Borum and Horizon League All-Freshman Team honoree Abbie Householder. Borum was a setter and right-side hitter in YSU's 6-2 offense who led the country in triple-doubles in 2022. Householder ranked third on the team in kills and digs last season as an outside hitter.

Borum is Active Triple-Double Queen: Fifth-year senior Josi Borum posted a triple-double in the first two weeks of the season, bringing her career total to 17. That is 10 more than any other active Division I student-athlete. Borum had four triple-doubles as a true freshman at Chicago State in 2019, and she has 13 in her three-plus seasons at Youngstown State. In 2022, Borum had 10 triple-doubles, which was four more than any other Division I player and the fourth-most in the country regardless of division.

Vergara Impressing: Junior outside hitter Jazmin Vergara is off to an impressive start in the first two weeks of her Division I career. The transfer from Miami Dade College was an all-tournament team selection in each of the first two weeks. She averaged 3.57 kills and 2.14 digs at the DoubleTree by Hilton YSU Invitational, and she followed that up with 3.82 kills and 3.18 digs per set in Toledo. Vergara ranks third in the Horizon League with 3.52 kills per set this season, and she sits fourth with 3.91 points per set.

Coming Off Best Season Since 2014: The Penguins had their best season since 2014 last year by posting a 14-16 record and qualifying for the Horizon League Volleyball Championship for the first time in eight years. Youngstown State set a new school record with eight Horizon League wins, and those eight wins came in an 11-match stretch from Oct. 1 through Nov. 4.

Offensive Improvement in 2022: The Penguins had one of their best offenses in recent seasons in 2022 as they hit .216, which was their best attack percentage since 2014 and the second-best mark since 1999. Youngstown State averaged 12.48 kills per set, which was also its highest in eight seasons. YSU averaged 1.62 aces per set, which was its most for a season since the 2001 squad averaged 1.90 aces per set. The Penguins had their best attack percentage ever in Horizon League play by hitting .214, and their 12.86 kills per set in conference matches were the most by a Penguins team since 2012. After nine matches in 2023, YSU is hitting .191.

Captains: Josi Borum, Elise Moeller, Isabel Schaefbauer and Isidora Sisic will serve as team captains in 2023. Borum and Sisic are repeat captains from 2022. All four student-athletes are transfers from other Division I institutions. Borum and Sisic arrived from Chicago State, Moeller is from Evansville, and Schaefbauer came from Winthrop.

Hoping for Big Things in Year Two: The Penguins got a big boost from newcomers in 2022. Abbie Householder was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team while ranking third on the team in kills and digs last season. Dayan Malave played in all but three sets and led the team with 85 total blocks, Julia Sell was strong in the second half of the season and averaged a team-best 0.88 blocks per set, and Isabel Schaefbauer led the team with 622 assists and 5.27 assists per set. This season, Householder is averaging 1.97 kills and 2.42 digs per set, Sell leads the team with 1.06 blocks per set, Malave is averaging 0.80 blocks per set, and Schaefbauer is averaging 4.75 assists per set. Sell, Schaefbauer and Householder have each played in all 36 sets.

New Coaching Roles: There are two new assistant coaches on YSU's staff this season as Keith Lundgren and Kelly Kiger have joined the program. Additionally, Jesus Echevarria was promoted to the title of Associate Head Coach.

International Flavor: The YSU volleyball program is a melting pot of cultures with six countries being represented on the bench. Josi Borum, Kiyah Franklin, Michelle Fredrick, Abbie Householder, Maria Insana, Caitlyn Jones, Jocelyn Jourdan, Kiley Mitchell, Elise Moeller, Isabel Schaefbauer, Julia Sell and assistant coach Kelly Kiger are from the continental United States. Gabriela Machin, Dayan Malave and Associate Head Coach Jesus Echevarriahail from Puerto Rico. Additionally, Jazmin Vergara hails from Colombia, Isidora Sisic is from Serbia, Head Coach Aline Scott is from Brazil, and Assistant Coach Keith Lundgren is from Canada.

Scouting the Opponents

Akron: Akron will enter Thursday's match with the same record as Youngstown State at 4-5. The Zips also went 1-2 last week, beating Harvard in five sets and falling 3-1 to Cleveland State and 3-2 to Bucknell. Akron began the month by going 3-0 at the Marshall Invitational, and Faith Johnson was named that tournament's MVP and the MAC Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts. Johnson is one of nine returning letterwinners from last year's squad that went 6-23 overall and 3-15 in the MAC. The Zips were picked to finish sixth in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. YSU is 10-46 all-time against Akron, but the teams have split the last six meetings dating back to 2013. Youngstown State swept the Zips in Akron in 2022.

Kent State: Kent State will head into Thursday's contest against Cleveland State with a 3-6 ledger in 2023. The Golden Flashes won twice in three tries last weekend at the Western New York Invitational, beating Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1 and Canisius 3-2 before falling 3-0 at Niagara. Bryn Roberts is the reigning MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 4.83 digs in New York. Offensively, Mackenzie McGuire leads the Golden Flashes with 3.57 kills per set. The Golden Flashes were picked to finish fourth in the MAC East Division in the Preseason Coaches Poll. Youngstown State is 4-22 all-time against Kent State, the Penguins will be looking to snap a five-match skid against the Golden Flashes dating back to 2013. YSU has never beaten Kent State at the M.A.C. Center.

Up Next

Youngstown State will begin its 23rd Horizon League season with three matches in the opening week of conference play. The Penguins will host Northern Kentucky on Tuesday at 6 p.m., and they'll play road contests at Oakland and Cleveland State next Friday (Sept. 22) and Saturday (Sept. 23).