Having one of the youngest rosters in the country with 10 newcomers and nine freshmen, Youngstown State's volleyball team had its best season in at least a decade in 2025. The Penguins won a school record 11 Horizon League matches, improved their win total by eight compared with 2024, and advanced to the semifinals of the 2025 Horizon League Volleyball Championship.

Winning Success

• In the Youngstown State's second season under head coach Riley Jarrett, the Penguins set a new school record with 11 Horizon League victories. The 11 conference wins were the second most in program history and the most since the 1999 squad was 13-1 in the Mid-Continent Conference in 1999. YSU's highest win total in its first 24 years in the Horizon League was eight, set in 2022.
• The 11 victories allowed YSU to earn the third seed, its highest ever at the Horizon League Volleyball Championship. It was quite an overachievement according to the Horizon League preseason poll, which pegged the Penguins to finish 10th.

• In addition to breaking the school record for Horizon League victories and winning percentage during the regular season, Youngstown State secured its first winning season since 2014 with a 17-14 record. YSU's last 17-win season was in 2014. The Penguins were especially strong at home during the regular season and tied the program record with 10 wins, matching the 1999 team.

• The Penguins won eight more matches than they did in 2024. That was the second-biggest win improvement in the Horizon League, and only 23 teams in the country improved their win total by more heading into the NCAA Tournament.

• Youngstown State won five straight matches twice over the season's final six weeks. YSU's last five match winning streak was in 2022, and the Penguins hadn't had a season with multiple five-match streaks since 2014.

Individual Awards

• Abbie Householder was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. She became the second Penguin to win both awards, joining Paula Gursching in 2022. Jill Raslevich was YSU's only other conference player of the year in 1995 when the Penguins were in the Mid-Continent Conference.
• Householder and Gabriela Machin were both named to the All-Horizon league First Team, giving the Penguins two first team selections for the first time in program history. The Horizon League had strictly an all-league team without first and second team designations until the 2020-21 season, and YSU had two members of the all-league team in 2013 and 2014.
• YSU also had two members of the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in Kameron Blizniak and Layne Graffice. It was the first time YSU had two freshmen earn postseason accolades since 2002 when Nickole Kennedy and Angie Pasquinelli were named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team.
• YSU's last season with four players earning postseason recognition from a conference was in 1999 when Kristen Meech and Vickie Robinson were first-team selections, while Michelle Batton and Melissa Lyczkowski were second-team picks.
• Abbie Householder became the program's first student-athlete to be named the National Player of the Week by the AVCA on Nov. 18. She averaged 7.17 kills and 7.92 points per set in the final two regular-season matches of her career.
• Blizniak (Oct. 20), Machin (Sept. 2) and Householder (Oct. 27 and Nov. 17) and were each named a Horizon League Player of the Week during the season. It was the first time since 2014 and just the sixth time ever that three different Penguins have received the weekly honor.
• Householder finished her career by being named to the All-Tournament Team at the 2025 Horizon League Volleyball Championship. She averaged 5.38 kills and 2.50 digs in YSU's two matches at the tournament. She joined Shannon Watson (2014) and Lexi Egler (2013) as the only Penguins to earn all-tournament team accolades in the Horizon League.
• Householder and Machin were both voted to the Horizon League All-Academic Team, while Maria Insana was an honorable mention selection.

School Record Notes

Individual Match

• Kills - Abbie Householder posted 23 kills in a Senior Day victory over Purdue Fort Wayne, the most ever by a Penguin in a three-set rally scoring match. Householder set a new career high with 31 kills in a five-set victory over Northern Kentucky, which tied for the fourth-best total in the current scoring format.
• Assists - Kameron Blizniak's 44 assists in the home victory over Robert Morris on Sept. 30, 2025, were the most by a Penguin in a three-set match in the current 25-point rally scoring era. Blizniak also set the five-set mark in the format with 70 against Green Bay in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship.
• Aces - Brie Habeeb's six assists at Saint Francis (Pa.) were the most by a Penguin in a three set match in the current scoring format.
• Points - Householder's 23-kill effort against Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 14 helped her post 25 points, the most in a three-set match in the 25-point rally scoring era.

Individual Season

• Kills - Abbie Householder's 502 kills were the third most in school history and the second most in the rally scoring era. Gabriela Machin finished with 387 kills, the 12th most in program history and an improvement of 235 from her previous career high.
• Kills Per Set - Householder's 4.22 kills per set was the third-best average in school history and the second best in rally scoring. Machin's average of 3.25 ranked 20th overall and eighth in the current scoring format.
• Attack Percentage - Machin's .339 attack percentage was the best by a Penguin since volleyball shifted from sideout scoring to rally scoring in 2001. She topped the previous mark by 21 percentage points and finished .004 behind Vickie Robinson's record of .343 set in 1999.
• Assists - Kameron Blizniak set a new school record for most assists in the 25-point rally scoring era with 1,116. That was the 10th-best mark regardless of format and the second-highest total ever by a YSU freshman.
• Assists Per Set - Blizniak averaged 10.56 assists per set in Horizon League play, which is the best by a Penguins setter in the 25-point rally scoring era.
• Digs - Brie Habeeb had 330 digs, which is the most by a YSU true freshman in the 25-point rally scoring era and the third highest total regardless of format. Habeeb's total came despite missing the final six matches of the season with an injury.
• Points - Householder's 562.5 points were the third most in school history and the second-highest total in the current format.
• Points Per Set - Householder averaged 4.73 points per set, the fifth-best average in program history regardless of format and the second best in 25-point rally scoring.

Individual Career

• Kills - Abbie Householder finished her career with a school record 1,427 kills, surpassing Vickie Robinson's mark of 1,408 that was set from 1996-99 during the sideout scoring era. Householder finished with 97 more kills than any other Penguin who played during rally scoring, and she had 280 more than any other Penguin who played exclusively during the 25-point era. Householder finished with 942 kills over her final two seasons, which were her two seasons under Head Coach Riley Jarrett.
• Kills Per Set - Householder's 3.21 average was fourth all time
• Attempts - Householder's total of 4,241 was a school record
• Aces - Householder finished sixth all with 130, and she had the second-highest total of any Penguin who played after 1990.
• Digs - Householder finished third with 1,292. She was one of six players in school history to finish with at least 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs, and she joined Lexi Egler as the only two to do it during the rally scoring era.
• Blocks Per Set - Julia Sell finished eighth in program history with 0.94 career blocks per set
• Points - Householder was fourth with 1,645.0, the second most in the rally scoring era. She had 320 more points than any other outside hitter has had in rally scoring.
• Sets - Householder tied for third with 445, which was the second most by a Penguin since 1990.

Team Match

• YSU's 82 kills against Green Bay in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship set a new school record for kills in a 25-point rally scoring match. The Penguins' 80 assists in that quarterfinal victory was also a school record in the current scoring format.
• The Penguins had their two highest attack percentages ever in a Horizon League match, and they came within four days of each other. YSU hit .365 in a 3-0 win over Milwaukee on Oct. 25, and it topped that by hitting .372 in a sweep at Robert Morris on Oct. 28.

Team Season

• The Penguins set a new program record in the 25-point rally scoring era with 1,555 kills. That was the sixth-highest total regardless of scoring format and the highest since 2007. YSU also set records for the current era with 13.07 kills per set overall and 13.58 kills per set in Horizon League play.
• YSU had an efficient offense with a .247 attack percentage. That was the second-best mark in program history overall, and it was 29 percentage points better than any other season in the current scoring format. YSU improved to .255 in Horizon League play, shattering the previous record of .214 set in 2022.
• YSU's 1,453 assists were its most in the 25-point rally era and the fourth-highest total in program history.