Charleston, S.C. — Youngstown State's volleyball team had three players reach double digits in kills in a four-set loss to the College of Charleston on Friday night in its opening match at the Steve Baumrind Invitational. The set scores at TD Arena were 25-17, 21-25, 12-25, 23-25.
The Penguins are now 4-3 this season after battling the preseason CAA favorites on their home floor. Abbie Householder posted a double-double of 14 kills and 14 digs, and two of her teammates also reached double digits in kills. Layne Graffice finished with 12 kills, and Gabriela Machin had 10.
Brie Habeeb paced the back row defensively with 15 digs, Niyah Lester registered five blocks, and Kameron Blizniak distributed 32 assists.
The Cougars hit .306 in the opening set, and they overcame a 4-0 run to start the match by the Penguins. Youngstown State's first deficit was 12-11, and the Cougars gained separation with an 8-2 run that put them up 22-15. Machin posted four kills on seven attempts in the set, and Taya Nordmann registered two kills, a block and an ace within YSU's first six points of the match.
The largest margin for either team was three until YSU's final edge of 25-21. The teams were within a point of each other from when the Cougars led 14-13 until YSU went ahead 22-20. The Penguins went on a 5-1 burst, which was capped by a Blizniak ace, midway through the set to corral a 14-12 lead. YSU led 17-15 following a kill by Graffice, and the Cougars scored three straight points to go up 18-17. The Penguins scored six of the next eight points to surge ahead 23-20, and the Cougars had back-to-back attack errors to end the set.
With the margin 12-10 in the third, Charleston scored 11 straight points to go up 23-10, and the Cougars went on to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Penguins bounced back in the fourth, and they led as late as 21-20 after Householder's final kill. Charleston countered with a three-point run to go up 23-21, and Machin had back-to-back kills to tie the set at 23. The Cougars answered with consecutive kills to finish the match.
Youngstown State will continue play at Charleston's tournament on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Stetson. Live stats will be available through a link on YSUsports.com.
