Youngstown State's volleyball team is in the heat of a standings battle in the Horizon League, and it looks to capitalize on the opportunity of playing its final four matches of the regular season at home. The pivotal stretch begins with two contests against Cleveland State this Thursday and Friday.
Both matches at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center are set to begin at 6 p.m., and they will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Match 1 vs. Cleveland State
Match 2 vs. Cleveland State
- When: Friday, Nov. 7 | 6 p.m.
- Where: Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center | Youngstown, Ohio
- Promotion: Fans will receive a YSU Stadium Cup, courtesy of Lyden Oil, Roof Rite, Key Kutterz and 21 WFMJ
- Watch: ESPN+ | International Stream
- Stats: SIDEARM Stats
- Social: X | Instagram | Facebook
Gameday Guide | Visitors Guide | Promotional Schedule | YSU Mobile App - iOS - Android
A Glimpse at the Guins
- Youngstown State enters the penultimate week of the regular season with a 12-13 overall record and a 7-7 mark in Horizon League play. The Penguins are in a four-way tie for fourth place in the standings, and the top six teams qualify for the Horizon League Volleyball Championship.
- The Penguins extended their winning streak to five by sweeping Robert Morris last Tuesday, but they fell twice to Oakland over the weekend to create the logjam in the middle of the standings. YSU is tied with Green Bay, Oakland and Milwaukee, and that group is two games behind third-place Wright State and two games ahead of eighth-place RMU with four matches remaining.
- 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 their 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 .241 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. The Penguins are hitting .248 against Horizon League opponents, which is 34 points higher than the current school record.
- Kameron Blizniak, Abbie Householder and Gabriela Machin have each been named an Under Armour Horizon League Player of the Week this season, giving YSU three honorees for the first time since 2014.
- Householder eclipsed 1,300 career kills and 1,200 career digs last week. She enters this week ranking fourth in program history in career kills and fifth in digs, and she could jump into the top three in both categories this week.
- 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 22 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 leads the conference in kills and points per set while hitting a career-high .267 this season.
- Junior Gabriela Machin is having the best season of her career offensively, averaging 3.13 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. She ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage, and she is eighth in kills per set.
Upcoming Milestones
- Kameron Blizniak is 26 assists shy of 900 this season. Only three previous YSU freshmen have surpassed 730 assists.
- Layne Graffice needs 25 kills to reach 250 this season, and she is two digs shy of 200.
- Gabriela Machin is seven kills away from reaching 600 in her career, and she needs three blocks to reach 150.
- Taya Nordmann needs 13 blocks to reach 100 this season. She'd be the first Penguin to get 100 since Sarah Varcolla recorded 100 in 2017.
YSU Career Kills List
- 1,408 — Vickie Robinson (1996-99)
- 1,371 — Amy Hermann (1994-98)
- 1,340 — Ruth Boscaljon (2006-09)
- 1,312 — Abbie Householder (2022-25)
YSU Career Digs List
- 1,495 — Jill Raslevich (1992-95)
- 1,315 — Nikki Thompson (2012-15)
- 1,244 — Cari Leslie (2003-06)
- 1,239 — Margaux Thompson (2017-20)
- 1,228 — Abbie Householder (2022-25)
YSU Career Points List
- 1,784.5 — Vickie Robinson (1996-99)
- 1,724.5 — Ruth Boscaljon (2006-09)
- 1,653.5 — Amy Hermann (1994-98)
- 1,521.0 — Abbie Householder (2022-25)
Horizon League Individual Leaders
Quick Facts & Preseason Notes
Recapping Last Week
Results
YSU scores are listed first
Oct. 28 at Robert Morris » W, 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-20) | Box Score | Recap
Oct. 31 at Oakland » L, 0-3 (23-25, 26-28, 22-25) | Box Score | Recap
Nov. 1 at Oakland » L, 1-3 (25-20, 18-25, 23-25, 23-25) | Box Score | Recap
Notes
- Youngstown State set a school record for best hitting percentage in a Horizon League match with a .372 effort at Robert Morris last week. The Penguins had 46 kills and just four errors in 113 attempts. That topped the previous mark of .365, which YSU recorded the previous match against Milwaukee on Oct. 25.
- Following the sweep of RMU, the Penguins extended their streak of sets won to 11. That was snapped 25-23 in the opening set at Oakland on Friday, which was the first set YSU dropped since the opener at IU Indy on Oct. 18.
- Four of the sets YSU lost last week at Oakland were by two points, and another was by three.
- The Penguins were much more error-prone at Oakland than in recent matches with 41 combined attack errors in the two matches. YSU averaged 5.86 errors per set against the Golden Grizzlies, up from 2.04 during its five-match winning streak.
- Kameron Blizniak averaged 11.10 assists per set last week, which was the fourth-best mark in the conference. Over the past seven matches, when YSU has a 5-2 record, Blizniak has averaged 11.64 assists per set. She is averaging 9.01 assists per set this season, which is the most by a Penguin since 2016.
- Bianca Giglio registered seven kills on 21 attempts in Saturday's match. That was her highest total during conference play.
- Abbie Householder led the conference last week with 4.60 kills per set, posting 46 in her 10 sets. She has reached double digits in kills in 23 of YSU's 25 matches this season, and she has hit at least .200 in 13 of the team's 14 Horizon League contests. Householder surpassed 1,300 career kills and 1,200 career digs last week.
- Maria Insana tied her season high with 16 digs in Friday's match at Oakland.
- Gabriela Machin posted double-digit kill totals in all three matches last week, and she surpassed 300 kills this season. She has 304 kills in 2025 after recording 289 combined in her first two seasons.
Scouting the Vikings
Record: 6-19 overall; 4-10 in Horizon League play
Last Week: Won 3-1 vs. Oakland; Lost 3-0 vs. IU Indy; Lost 3-0 vs. IU Indy
Horizon League Standings: 9th
Horizon League Preseason Poll: 4th of 10
Statistical Leaders
- Kills — Laken Voss (3.05 per set)
- Assists — Isabella Gibbons (7.11 per set)
- Aces — Vayda Delventhal (0.27 per set)
- Digs — Vayda Delventhal (4.49 per set)
- Blocks — JeriLynn Koehler (0.84 per set)
Up Next
Youngstown State will play its final series of the regular season by hosting Purdue Fort Wayne next Thursday and Friday. Both matches at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center will start at 6 p.m., and seniors Bianca Giglio, Abbie Householder and Julia Sell will be celebrated before Friday's match.
