Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's volleyball team posted its best attack percentage ever in a Horizon League match on Saturday and swept Milwaukee for the second straight day. The set scores from Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center were 25-18, 28-26, 25-17.
The Penguins have now won four straight matches to improve to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play, while the Panthers dropped to 4-20 overall and 4-7 against league competition.
YSU earned its first sweep in a decade over the Panthers on Friday, and it followed with another 3-0 victory less than 18 hours later.
Setter Kameron Blizniak posted 39 assists as the Penguins hit .365 as a team with 42 kills, seven errors in 96 attempts. Abbie Householder led all players with 14 kills in 25 attempts, while Layne Graffice posted 10 kills and Gabriela Machin recorded nine. Householder added a match-high 13 digs, and Graffice registered 10 digs as both outside hitters recorded double-doubles.
Ella Schuetz had 11 kills to lead Milwaukee, which hit .196.
Youngstown State trailed just once on Friday, but Milwaukee was the early aggressor on Saturday morning and took a 5-1 lead. The Panthers held a 9-6 advantage before the Penguins went on a 14-5 burst to go up 20-14. YSU led by at least five on its way to a 25-18 victory.
The Penguins had 15 kills in 28 attempts without committing an error in the opening set to hit .536.
There were 11 ties in the second set, but Youngstown State did not trail after taking a 12-11 lead on a kill by Machin. The Penguins extended their advantage to 18-12 at the end of an 11-2 spurt, but Milwaukee battled back to tie the score at 19. The final tie came at 26, and YSU's final two points came on a kill by Machin and a solo block by Taya Nordmann on set point. Machin had six kills in seven attempts in the set, and she had three kills once the set went beyond 24-24.
The Penguins' lead was 14-13 in the third set before they outscored Milwaukee 11-4 to finish the match. Householder recorded six of YSU's 11 kills in the set.
Youngstown State will play three road matches next week, starting with a contest at Robert Morris on Tuesday. First serve at the UPMC Events Center is set for 6 p.m.
