Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's volleyball team built a two-set lead and fought off a comeback attempt by Cleveland State in a 3-2 victory over the Vikings on Friday night. The set scores from Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center were 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 19-25, 15-6.
Youngstown State improved to 14-13 overall and set a new school record for Horizon League victories in a season with nine. YSU is now 9-7 in conference play and will be in fourth place at worst in the league standings entering the final week of the regular season. Cleveland State dropped to 6-21 overall and 4-12 in Horizon League play.
There were only two lead changes as the Penguins took a 2-0 lead on Cleveland State and looked to sweep their Northeast Ohio rivals for the second straight night. The Vikings regrouped and won the third set narrowly at 25-23, and the visitors had momentum through most of the fourth set in a 25-19 win. The fifth set was tied 6-6 before the Penguins scored the final nine points of the match.
Abbie Householder finished with a match-high 17 kills while adding 10 digs for a double-double, and Layne Graffice posted 15 kills and 15 digs. Gabriela Machin registered 14 kills and five blocks, and Taya Nordmann matched her with five blocks.
Bryn VanVleet had 17 kills to lead Cleveland State.
Machin had five kills in seven attempts as the Penguins won the first set 25-19, and Householder posted five of YSU's 16 kills in a 25-18 win in the second.
The Vikings won a close third set in which the largest margin for either team was three, and they hit .395 with 21 kills in the fourth to force the tiebreaker.
Cleveland State opened up a 3-1 lead in the fifth, and a successful challenge on an ace allowed YSU to tie the score at 3-3. The score was tied at four, five and six before the Penguins went on their 9-0 run to close the match. Householder had a kill and teamed up with Izzy Henry for a block on the next two points to allow the Penguins to take an 8-6 lead as the teams switched sides, and YSU rode Taya Nordmann's serve the rest of the way.
The Henry block started a stretch where she was part of four points in a five-point span. Another block assist with Householder forced Cleveland State to exhaust its final timeout at 12-6, and kills by Kameron Blizniak and Householder gave YSU match point. Nordmann seized the opportunity with her second ace of the set.
Youngstown State will wrap up the regular season next week by hosting Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday and Friday. Both matches at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center will start at 6 p.m.
