Highland Heights, Ky. — Gabriela Machin posted a career-high 16 kills as the Youngstown State volleyball team fell in four sets at Northern Kentucky on Friday evening. The set scores from Regents Hall were 25-18, 18-25, 25-23, 25-18.

Machin's 16 kills came on 32 attempts, and the sophomore right-side hitter had just three attack errors to post a .406 hitting percentage. On the left side, junior Abbie Householder recorded a match-leading 17 kills and 13 digs.

Nyia Setla led all players with 24 digs, and Juliana Rivera had a team-high 25 assists as the Penguins ran a 6-2 offense all night.

NKU registered 12 blocks, including six by Allie Siefke, and forced the Penguins into 32 attack errors in the four-setter. The Norse had one fewer kill than the Penguins, but they had 13 fewer attack errors. Ava Hoying and Joy Banks had a dozen kills apiece to pace NKU offensively.

Youngstown State hit .263 in the opening set and did not trail after a 5-0 run gave it a 7-3 advantage. Machin and Householder combined for 11 kills on 18 attempts in the set, and Kelsey Cooper contributed three kills in four swings while adding two blocks.

NKU scored seven of the first nine points of the second set and went on to win 25-18 to even the match, and the third set was the most competitive of the evening.

The Norse jumped out to a 6-1 advantage in the third behind Banks' serve, but Youngstown Stat rallied and went on a 10-2 run to flip an 11-6 deficit into a 16-13 lead. The Penguins held a 21-18 advantage after a kill by Machin, but NKU's turn to make a run came at an inopportune time as a 7-2 burst gave the Norse the win. Siefke had back-to-back solo blocks when the set was tied 23-23.

In the fourth, NKU went on a six-point run to go up 12-8, and the Norse finished the evening on an 8-3 spurt.

The Penguins will try to split the weekend when the teams play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. Live stats for the match will be available from the link on YSUsports.com.