Three pin hitters finished between nine and 13 kills for Youngstown State's volleyball team as it ended the opening weekend of the 2025 season with a 3-0 victory over Canisius on Saturday afternoon at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.

The Penguins finished 2-1 at their home tournament, the YSU Invitational, presented by Mercy Health.

Abbie Householder led all players with 13 kills, and she added 11 digs for her third straight double-double to open her senior campaign. Freshman Layne Graffice recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs, and all-tournament team selection Gabriela Machin finished with nine kills in 22 swings.

Graffice had 12 kills on 30 attempts without an error to hit .400. Her efforts helped the Penguins hit .275 collectively, and Kameron Blizniak posted 32 assists. YSU hit at least .250 in all three sets, and it held a .275-.077 edge over the Golden Griffins in the category.

Brie Habeeb anchored the back row with 14 digs, and she committed one receiving error in 19 chances.

Youngstown State's largest deficit of the match was 5-3 in the first, and the Penguins scored six straight points behind Bianca Giglio's serve. Graffice started the run with three straight kills and finished with four in the set. After Canisius went ahead 13-12, YSU closed on a 13-1 run. Canisius had 13 attack errors in the set.

Householder had seven kills and seven digs in the second set as the Penguins scored the first four points and led the entire way. Youngstown State then took a 7-6 lead in the third set on a Graffice kill, and it did not trail again. The freshman from Alliance, Ohio, had six kills and five digs in that set.

Youngstown State will play on the road for the first time in 2025 next weekend with three matches at Saint Francis (Pa.) Altoona Grand Red Flash Classic. The Penguins will play Lafayette on Friday, and they'll take on SFU and Siena on Saturday.