Youngstown State University
11-12,7-5Horizon
Northern Kentucky
14-9,9-3Horizon
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youngstown St. | 23 | 22 | 19 | 0 |
| Northern Ky. | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
10/31/2026 7:43:00 PM | Volleyball
Highland Heights, Ky. — Youngstown State dropped its second straight Horizon League road match on Saturday, falling in straight sets at Northern Kentucky. The set scores from Regents Hall were 25-23, 25-22, 25-19.
The Penguins fell to 11-12 overall and 7-5 in Horizon League play with four matches remaining in the regular season. NKU snapped a three-match losing skid and remained in second place in the conference standings, improving to 14-9 overall and 9-3 in conference play.
Layne Graffice paced the Penguins offensively with nine kills while adding nine digs, and Ava Stratton finished with eight kills. Wrigley Takats led YSU with five blocks, and the Penguins finished with nine as a team.
The Penguins held the Norse to a .160 attack percentage, but YSU hit just .113. NKU had a 37-35 edge in kills, a 10-9 advantage in blocks, and a 9-5 advantage in aces. Ivey Stocks had a match-high 10 kills to lead the Norse.
The Norse jumped out to big leads early in the first two sets, and they went on a late run to pull away in the third.
NKU led 10-3 in the opening set following Katie Noschang's second ace in a three-point stretch, and the margin grew to 18-8. Youngstown State stormed back and got as close as 24-23 before a serving error gave the Norse the 25-23 win.
Similarly, in the second set, NKU scored 11 of the first 14 points and led 20-8. YSU went on another furious rally and got within two at 23-21 and 24-22 before the Norse held on.
In the third, the Penguins led 16-11 on a Takats kill, but the Norse went on a 9-1 run to go up 20-17 behind Sydney Bray's serve. The Penguins got as close as 20-19 on a Graffice kill, and NKU closed out the match by scoring the final five points.
Youngstown State will play a home-and-home with Oakland next weekend. The Penguins will host the Golden Grizzlies on Friday at 4 p.m. before playing at Oakland on Saturday at 4 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
