Youngstown State's volleyball team will play in its final tournament of the regular season this weekend as it travels to Charleston, S.C., for three matches at the Steve Baumrind Invitational. The four-team event will be hosted by the College of Charleston, and it will also feature Stetson and Quinnipiac.

YSU's first match will be on Friday at 6 p.m. against the host Cougars, and the contest will be streamed live on FloSports. The Penguins will take on Stetson at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and their final match in The Palmetto State will be at 11 a.m. on Sunday against Quinnipiac.

The match against Charleston will be the only one with live video, and live stats will be available throughout the tournament through links on YSUsports.com.

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Youngstown State is 4-2 this season after going 2-1 at each of its first two tournaments - the YSU Invitational, presented by Mercy Health, and the Altoona Grand Red Flash Classic. YSU has won three matches by sweeps, and its most recent victory over Siena came in five sets.
• Senior outside hitter Abbie Householder recorded her 1,000th career kill and her 1,000th career dig within a span of two sets on Saturday. She is one of just three active Division I players in the country (Victoria Barrett, Alabama; Sophia Meyers, Oregon) with at least 1,000 of each, and she is the only one to do it all at one school. Householder is the sixth Penguin to achieve both.
• Gabriela Machin was named a Horizon League Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2025 season. She leads the conference with a .401 attack percentage, and she ranks in the top six in points and kills per set.
• Householder and Machin were the only two returners from 2024 in the starting lineup last week. They were joined by sophomore transfer Taya Nordmann, redshirt freshman transfer Niyah Lester, and true freshmen Kameron Blizniak, Layne Graffice and Brie Habeeb. Nordmann missed the opening week with an injury and made her YSU debut at Saint Francis' tournament.
• 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.

Upcoming Milestones

• Bianca Giglio needs 11 digs to reach 400 in her career
• Brie Habeeb is two digs from reaching 100 in her career
• Maria Insana is 38 digs shy of 400 in her career
• Taya Nordmann is five points away from 250 in her career

Horizon League Individual Leaders (Top 10)

• Kameron Blizniak - 3rd in assists per set (8.45)
• Layne Graffice - 7th in hitting percentage (.269); 7th in kills per set (3.18); 8th in points per set (3.48)
• Brie Habeeb - 3rd in aces per set (0.41); 5th in digs per set (4.45)
• Abbie Householder - 1st in points per set (4.36); 3rd in kills per set (3.77); 9th in digs per set (3.09); 10th in hitting percentage (.249)
• Gabriela Machin - 1st in hitting percentage (.401); 4th in points per set (3.93); 6th in kills per set (3.27)
• Niyah Lester - 7th in blocks per set (1.00)
• Taya Nordmann - 1st in blocks per set (1.38)

Quick Facts & Preseason Notes

Recapping Last Week

Results

YSU scores are listed first

1. Sept. 5 vs. Lafayette » L, 2-3 (21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 9-15) | Box Score | Recap
2. Sept. 6 at Saint Francis (Pa.) » W, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) | Box Score | Recap
3. Sept. 6 vs. Siena » W, 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 25-10, 15-9) | Box Score | Recap

Notes

• The Penguins set a school record for highest attack percentage in a five-set rally scoring match in the win over Siena on Saturday. The Penguins hit .293 collectively, topping the previous mark of .271 against West Virginia on Oct. 18, 2003. Youngstown State closed out the five-set victory by hitting .500 in the final set with 10 kills on 18 attempts with just one error. Through the first six matches of the season, YSU is hitting .261 as a team. That's a significant improvement from last year's mark of .165.
• Abbie Householder became the 15th Penguin to reach 1,000 career kills and the 18th to get 1,000 career digs in YSU's five-set win over Siena. She reached the milestone in kills in the third set, and her dig came in the fourth. The Canfield, Ohio, native is the sixth player in school history to record at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs, joining Jill Raslevich (1992-95), Heather Luben (1993-96), Amy Herman (1994-98), Vickie Robinson (1996-99) and Lexi Egler (2011-14). Egler is the only other player to do it in the rally scoring era. Householder also recorded her 100th career ace against the Saints, a level that only 15 other YSU players have reached.
• After playing in a 5-1 formation for all but a portion of one set during the opening weekend of the season, Youngstown State utilized a 6-2 offense for 12 of the 13 sets it played last week at the Red Flash Classic. Ava Prince was the second setter the opening weekend, and she averaged 4.42 assists per set last week. Kameron Blizniak, the primary option the first weekend, averaged 6.38 assists at Saint Francis and ranks third in the Horizon League with 8.4 assists per set for the season.
• Youngstown State true freshmen Layne Graffice and Brie Habeeb earned all-tournament team honors last weekend at the Red Flash Classic. Graffice, an outside hitter, averaged 3.0 kills and 2.15 digs while posting double-doubles in YSU's two victories. Habeeb averaged 4.62 digs and tied for the conference lead with 0.54 aces per set last week. Habeeb's six aces in the three-set win over Saint Francis (Pa.) tied the school record held by Colleen Royer (2001) for the most in a three-set rally scoring match. Only two Penguins, Sarah Varcolla in 2015 and Paula Gurssching in 2021, have had more than six aces since 2001.
• Sophomore middle blocker Taya Nordmann had an immediate impact in her Penguins debut last week as she averaged 1.38 blocks per set at the Red Flash Classic. Nordmann, who missed the opening weekend with an injury, had six blocks against Lafayette, one versus Saint Francis, and 11 versus Siena. The 11 blocks tied for the sixth-most in the rally-scoring era, and she had the most blocks in a match by a Penguin since 2014.

Scouting This Week's Opponents

College of Charleston

• Record: 3-4
• Last Week: L 3-2 vs. Bradley; Won 3-0 vs. Western Carolina; Lost 3-1 vs. Charlotte; Won 3-1 vs. The Citadel
• CAA Preseason Poll: 1st of 11
• Statistical Leaders:
  • Kills - Caroline Noonan (2.79 per set)
  • Assists - Lauren Dow (8.81 per set)
  • Aces - Emma Duffield (0.45 per set)
  • Digs - Jumana Martin (4.79 per set)
  • Blocks - Noonan (0.75 per set)

Stetson

• Record: 1-5
• Last Week: Lost 3-0 vs. UCF; Lost 3-1 at FIU; Lost 3-1 vs. North Texas
• Atlantic Sun Preseason Poll: 10th of 12
• Statistical Leaders:
  • Kills - Zuzanna Bury (3.67 per set)
  • Assists - Nyah Molina (8.21 per set)
  • Aces - Bury (0.38 per set)
  • Digs - Molina (3.63 per set)
  • Blocks - Kayla Balfour (0.70 per set)

Quinnipiac

• Record: 2-4
• Last Week: Lost 3-1 at Morgan State; Lost 3-1 at Towson; Won 3-1 vs. Stonehill
• MAAC Preseason Poll: 2nd of 12
• Statistical Leaders:
  • Kills - Elena Giacomini (4.00 per set)
  • Assists - Damla Gunes (8.22 per set)
  • Aces - Gunes (0.33 per set)
  • Digs - Yagmur Gunes (3.05 per set)
  • Blocks - Milena Silva (0.59 per set)

Next Week

Youngstown State will return to Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center to host its final two non-conference matches of the regular season. YSU will take on Akron on Sept. 18 at 6 p.m., and it will welcome Kent State on Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.