Youngstown, Ohio — Gabriela Machin had 13 kills while hitting .632, and Youngstown State's volleyball team hit .312 in a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee on Friday at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The set scores were 25-16, 25-12, 27-25.
The Penguins trailed just once all match, and four of the five ties came in the third set as YSU jumped ahead of Milwaukee in the Horizon League standings and swept the Panthers for the first time in a decade. YSU improved to 10-11 overall and 5-5 in conference play, while Milwaukee dropped to 4-19 overall and 4-6 against league opponents. The teams will play again tomorrow as the Penguins look to take a two-game lead on the Panthers.
Machin's 13 kills came on just 19 attempts, and Youngstown State finished with 45 kills on 112 attempts. The Penguins had just 10 errors, which was 11 fewer than the Panthers. Eight of those errors came in the third set, but YSU offset that with 21 kills in the set.
Abbie Householder added 11 kills and a match-high 17 digs, and Kameron Blizniak finished with 40 assists and 10 digs. Izzy Henry had six kills in eight attempts in her first home start.
Natalie Schmitz had nine kills to lead Milwaukee, which had 17 attack errors in the first two sets before limiting itself to four errors in the third.
Youngstown State scored five of the first six points of the match and led by at least two the rest of the way as it won 25-16. Milwaukee scored the first two points of the second set for its only lead of the match, but Youngstown State went on an 11-2 burst to go up 11-4. The margin grew to 14 at 21-7 on a block by Julia Sell, which gave the Panthers one of their 12 attack errors in the set.
The Penguins opened up a 16-10 lead in the third set following one of Machin's nine kills in the frame, but the Panthers clawed back with a 6-1 run to get within 17-16. Householder had three straight kills during a 4-0 run that put YSU ahead 21-16, and the Penguins took a 24-19 lead on a Machin kill. Milwaukee scored the next five points to tie the score at 24, and Machin kills gave YSU leads of 25-24 and 26-25. Householder's 11th kill came on the seventh match-point opportunity, finishing a long rally with several outstanding plays by both teams.
Saturday's match between the Penguins and Panthers will begin at 11 a.m. at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. Fans should park in the M-30 deck on Wick Avenue due to the YSU Homecoming football game that will start at 2 p.m.
