Dayton, Ohio — Youngstown State's volleyball team nearly knocked off a team at the top of the Horizon League standings for the second straight weekend, but it came up short in a five-set loss to Wright State on Saturday. The set scores from C.J. McLin Gymnasium were 22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 15-9.

Senior Abbie Householder led all players with 23 kills, 10 of which came in the fourth set as YSU pushed the Raiders to a fifth set on their home floor. Gabriela Machin added 12 kills, Layne Graffice finished with 10, and Taya Nordmann posted nine.

Youngstown State is now 7-11 overall and 2-5 in Horizon League play, while Wright State improved to 12-6 and 6-1.

Katie Sowko led the Raiders with 19 kills and 17 digs.

After falling 25-11, 25-13, 25-18 to the Raiders on Friday evening, the Penguins immediately showed Saturday would be a different story by taking the opening set 25-22. YSU scored four of the first five points of the set, and it battled through 10 ties and two lead changes to prevail 25-22. Householder posted five kills in the set, including one that sparked a 3-0 run after Wright State tied the score at 22.

With the score tied at 12 in the second set, Wright State used an 8-2 run to take a 20-14 lead it wouldn't relinquish. The Raiders then jumped out to a 10-3 advantage and never trailed in the third set, winning 25-19.

Householder had 10 kills in 14 attempts in the fourth set, including eight after Wright State led 7-6. She had three in a four-point stretch to help YSU extend a 20-16 lead to a 23-17 advantage.

In the fifth, the score was tied at five before Wright State went on a five-point burst behind Lauren Yacobucci's serve. The Penguins got as close as 11-9 following an ace by Nordmann, but Wright State scored the final four points to finish the set.

Youngstown State will continue its four-match road stretch next week with two matches at IU Indianapolis.