Youngstown, Ohio — Abbie Householder broke the school record for kills in a three-set match, and Youngstown State's volleyball team completed its best regular season in more than a decade by sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday. The set scores from Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center were 25-19, 25-29, 26-24.
The Penguins finished the regular season with a 16-13 overall record, and they improved their school record for Horizon League wins to 11. YSU also tied the school mark for home victories with 10, and the Penguins went 8-1 on Rosselli Court during league play.
Youngstown State's season will continue on Friday in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Horizon League Volleyball Championship. Information about the time and opponent will be announced later this weekend.
Householder and fellow seniors Bianca Giglio and Julia Sell were celebrated before and after the match as they played for the final time in front of the home crowd. For Householder, her performance will go down in the record books. The outside hitter from nearby Canfield, Ohio, finished with 23 kills, the most by any Penguin in a three-set match since rally scoring began in 2001, in 42 attempts.
Householder posted a .452 attack percentage individually, and the Penguins hit .312 as a team. Her kill that made the score 9-6 came on Kameron Blizniak's 1,000th assist, which made her just the third YSU freshman ever to reach that level. Blizniak finished the night with 39 assists and 12 digs, Sell had a kill and two blocks, and Giglio recorded eight digs.
Householder had four kills in the opening set as YSU scored the first four points and was never caught by the Mastodons. She then had 11 kills without an error in the second set, and she had eight in the third as YSU had to make a late charge against Purdue Fort Wayne.
The Mastodons led 19-13 after a kill by Jena Medearis, and they later held a 22-19 lead. Householder had back-to-back kills to trim the margin to one and spark a four-point run that put YSU ahead 23-22. Householder's final kill gave the Penguins a 24-23 advantage and their first match point opportunity, and she finished the win from the service line at 26-24.
