Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's volleyball team will try to continue its recent upward trend this week during its final three road matches of the regular season. The Penguins will begin the road-heavy stretch with a short trip to Robert Morris for a 6 p.m. contest on Tuesday, and they'll play a pair of matches at Oakland on Friday and Saturday.
All three matches this week will be streamed live on ESPN+, and live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com.
Match 1 at Robert Morris
Match 2 at Oakland
Match 3 at Oakland
A Glimpse at the Guins
- Youngstown State enters the week riding a four-match winning streak, its longest streak since 2022. The Penguins starting the surge by winning 3-2 and 3-1 at IU Indy on Oct. 17-18, and they followed with consecutive 3-0 home sweeps of Milwaukee this past weekend.
- The Penguins have climbed into fifth place in the Horizon League standings with seven matches remaining. They'll have an opportunity to control their own fate as their final seven regular-season contests are all against teams currently below them in the standings. The top six teams make the Horizon League Volleyball Championship.
- Youngstown State has already surpassed both its overall and conference win totals from 2024, which was Riley Jarrett's first season as the program's head coach. The Penguins' 11 overall wins and its six league wins are the second-most since 2014. YSU is 6-4 at home, and they have their most victories on Rosselli Court since 2000 with four home matches remaining.
- YSU is hitting .238 as a team this season, which would be the second-highest hitting percentage in school history and the best since rally scoring began in 2001.
- Abbie Householder is a reigning Under Armour Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Week after ranking among the top six players in the conference in points, kills, aces and digs last week. She is the third Penguin to win the award this season, joining last week's recipient Kameron Blizniak and week one winner Gabriela Machin.
- Blizniak is one of 10 newcomers on the roster this season, and YSU has one of the youngest rosters in the country in 2025. The group of 17 student-athletes includes seven true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen and three sophomores. Householder, Machin, Julia Sell and Maria Insana are the only players who have been with the program more than two years.
- The Penguins have started at least four newcomers in every match and have started five newcomers 13 times. Blizniak has started every match at setter; Layne Graffice or Presley Stokes has started every match at outside hitter; and Brie Habeeb has started at libero 16 times. YSU has also started at least one transfer at middle blocker in every contest, and Taya Nordmann has made 19 consecutive starts.
- While the newcomers have brought an influx of talent, Householder has continued her reputation as one of the top players in the Horizon League. A six-rotation outside hitter, she ranks among the top three individuals in the league in points and kills per set while hitting a career-best .261 this season. Householder ranks fourth in program history in career kills (1,266), and she is sixth in career digs (1,189).
- Junior Gabriela Machin is having the best season of her career offensively, averaging 3.09 kills on a .343 hitting percentage. She ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage, and she is ninth in kills per set.
Upcoming Milestones
- Layne Graffice needs seven kills to reach 200 this season.
- Abbie Householder needs 11 digs to become the fifth Penguin to reach 1,200 career digs. She is also three blocks shy of 150, and she needs 34 kills to record 1,300.
- Maria Insana needs 14 digs to reach 500 for her career.
- Gabriela Machin is 10 blocks away from 150 in her career, and she needs 42 kills to reach 600.
Horizon League Individual Leaders (Top 10)
- Kameron Blizniak — 5th in assists per set (8.77)
- Brie Habeeb — 9th in digs per set (3.64)
- Abbie Householder — 1st in points per set (4.46); 3rd in kills per set (3.92); 7th in aces per set (0.31); 9th in hitting percentage (.261)
- Gabriela Machin — 3rd in hitting percentage (.343); 9th in kills per set (3.09)
- Taya Nordmann — 5th in blocks per set (0.99); 9th in aces per set (0.26)
Horizon League Individual Leaders (League matches only — Top 10)
Quick Facts & Preseason Notes
Recapping Last Week
Results
YSU scores are listed first
Oct. 24 vs. Milwaukee » W, 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 27-25) | Box Score | Recap
Oct. 25 at Milwaukee » W, 3-0 (25-18, 28-26, 25-17) | Box Score | Recap
Notes
- Youngstown State hadn't swept Milwaukee since Sept. 25, 2015, and it did it twice in a matter of 18 hours. The Penguins won four of the six sets by at least seven points.
- YSU's offense was in high gear again last weekend with a .337 hitting percentage and an average of 14.5 kills per set. The Penguins hit .365 against the Panthers in Saturday's win, which their best mark ever in a Horizon League match.
- YSU has hit at least .300 in four straight matches. The last time Youngstown State hit at least .300 four times in a season, let alone in consecutive matches, was in 2014.
- YSU last hit at least .300 in three straight matches in 2012. This is the first time since rally scoring began in 2001 that the Penguins have hit at least .300 in four consecutive matches.
- Over the last two weeks, Youngstown State has the 12th-best hitting percentage in the country.
- Kameron Blizniak became the fourth freshman setter in YSU history to surpass 750 assists in a season. She has 764, which is 188 behind third-place Tina Gregory (1991). Blizniak led the Horizon League in assists last week with 13.17 assists per set.
- Layne Graffice collected her eight double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs on Saturday.
- Brie Habeeb surpassed 300 digs this season in Saturday's victory over Milwaukee. She is the seventh YSU freshman to record at least 300 digs in a season.
- Izzy Henry had her best week offensively this season with 12 kills in 18 attempts against Milwaukee. She led the Horizon League last week with a .611 hitting percentage. She had six kills in both matches, which were career highs, and she tied her career high with three blocks in Saturday's win.
- Gabriela Machin averaged 3.67 kills per set while hitting an impressive .571 in the two victories. She had 22 kills on just 35 attempts while committing two attack errors. Machin had a match-high 13 kills on 19 swings in Friday's win over the Panthers.
Scouting the Colonials
Record: 7-15 overall; 3-8 in Horizon League play
Last Week: L 3-0 at Cleveland State; Won 3-0 at Cleveland State
Horizon League Standings: Tied for 8th
Horizon League Preseason Poll: Tied for 8th
Statistical Leaders
- Kills - Jocelyn Jourdan (3.60 per set)
- Assists - Kaitlyn Brown (8.07 per set)
- Aces - Addyson Butts (0.38 per set)
- Digs - Jasmine Purakal (4.93 per set)
- Blocks - Keira Hornung (1.20 per set)
Scouting the Golden Grizzlies
Record: 5-18 overall; 5-6 in Horizon League play
Last Week: L 3-0 at IU Indy; L 3-0 at IU Indy
Horizon League Standings: 6th
Horizon League Preseason Poll: Tied for 8th
Statistical Leaders
- Kills - Libby Smith (3.09 per set)
- Assists - Delaney Stern (7.46 per set)
- Aces - Molly Reck (0.23 per set)
- Digs - Lyse Bates (3.96 per set)
- Blocks - Grace Cooney (0.62 per set)
Up Next
Youngstown State will play its final four matches of the regular season at home. The four-match homestand begins on Thursday, Nov. 6, with a two-match series against Cleveland State.
