Storrs, Conn. — The Youngstown State volleyball team dropped its opening match of the 2024 season on Friday afternoon, falling 3-0 to Sacred Heart at a tournament hosted by UConn. The set scores were 25-22, 25-15, 25-19.

YSU freshman outside hitter Teagan Ng had a solid debut with nine kills in 19 attempts while adding an ace and six digs, and she was one of 12 Penguins who appeared in the match. Senior Kiyah Franklin finished with seven kills and three block assists, and Dayan Malave posted a team-best four blocks.

The Penguins hit .222 in the opening set behind four kills from Abbie Householder and three from Ng, but the Pioneers held YSU to an .016 attack percentage in the final two sets. They particularly locked in on Householder, who had one kill in the final two stanzas. Householder finished with a team-leading 11 digs, while Isabel Schaefbauer had 22 assists and nine digs.

Camryn Luginbuhl paced the Pioneers with 12 kills, and Allison Murray added 10. Sacred Heart finished with a .240 attack percentage and registered eight aces.

The Penguins held an 18-16 lead in the opening set before the Pioneers closed it out on a 9-4 spurt, and YSU was the first to 10 points in the second set and held a 10-8 lead. That's when the momentum flipped to Sacred Heart as the Pioneers six of the next seven points as part of an overall 17-5 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Sacred Heart scored 10 of the first 12 points of the third to build a 10-2 lead. The Penguins clawed their way to get as close as three on four separate occasions at 17-14, 20-17, 21-18 and 22-19, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.

Youngstown State will have two more opportunities this weekend in Connecticut, starting with a match on Saturday at 5 p.m. against UConn. The match will be broadcast live on UConn+, and live stats will be linked on YSUsports.com.