Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's volleyball team had three players record double-doubles to overcome a two-set deficit and outlast Oakland for a 3-2 win on Friday at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The set scores were 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 25-11, 15-13.
There were 12 ties and eight lead changes in the fifth set alone as YSU beat Oakland in Youngstown for the first time since 2000. The Penguins also had their first five-set win after trailing 2-0 on Rosselli Court since at least 1998.
Abbie Householder had a match-high 21 kills and 13 digs, Bianca Giglio and Isabel Schaefbauer also had double-doubles for the Penguins. Giglio finished with 10 kills and 10 digs, and Schaefbauer posted 44 assists and 19 digs from the setter position.
Kelsey Cooper added 10 kills, six blocks, six digs and three aces, and Gabriela Machin came off the bench to smash eight kills in 11 attempts over the final three sets.
Dayan Malave had seven blocks, and YSU had 13 as a team to limit the Golden Grizzlies to a .105 attack percentage. Youngstown State also had 93 digs, with Nyia Setla leading the way in the back row with 25 digs.
Gentry Brown had 18 kills, and Emily Wichmann posted 34 digs to lead Oakland.
The Golden Grizzlies held off a late Penguin charge in the opening set to win 25-23, and the closed the second set on an 8-3 burst to win 25-18 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Penguins trailed 7-2 in the third set, and their final deficit was 16-14. A Malave kill sparked a four-point run that gave YSU an 1-16 advantage, and the Penguins only faced one tie the rest of the set as it won 25-21. Giglio had six kills in 11 swings in the set.
Youngstown State then went on a 9-1 run to turn a 4-3 advantage into a 13-4 lead in the fourth set as it cruised to a 25-11 win. Oakland had 10 attack errors against four kills in the set, and Cooper, Machin and Householder combined to hit .500.
The Golden Grizzlies shook off the fourth set, and the teams went back and forth in a nail biter of a fifth set. The first lead of more than one for either team came when Cooper's kill gave the Penguins a 13-11 advantage. Oakland scored the next two points to tie the set and force a YSU timeout, and Householder finished the match with consecutive kills.
Youngstown State will try to sweep the weekend on Saturday as it hosts the Golden Grizzlies again at 2 p.m. YSU's senior class of Kiyah Franklin, Malave, Schaefbauer and Setla will be celebrated before the match at 1:45 p.m.
