Youngstown State University

Preseason Notes

Among the Nation's Youngest Rosters

Youngstown State will utilize one of the youngest rosters in the country in 2025. The group of 17 student-athletes includes seven true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and three seniors. According to research from Northwestern State's Brad Welborn, YSU is one of seven Division I schools with at least nine freshmen on its roster in 2025.

Our Program's Ohio Presence

As YSU's roster has been reshaped with the addition of 10 newcomers, there is an increase in the number of Ohioans playing for the Penguins. Of the 17 players on the roster, nine hail from the Buckeye State. That is the most since the 2019 squad also had nine Ohioans on its squad of 18. Six Ohio natives have been added to the roster since Riley Jarrett became the program's head coach: Layne Graffice, Brie Habeeb, Niyah Lester, Teagan Ng, Ava Prince and Presley Stokes. Three Ohioans who preceded Jarrett are Abbie Householder, Maria Insana and Julia Sell.

YSU's four coaches also all hail from the Buckeye State. Jarrett is a native of Lorain, Grace Wilson is from Chagrin Falls, Maddie Clayton hails from Roseville, and Sam Ott is a native of Parma.

Return of YSU Invitational

Youngstown State is hosting a multiple-team tournament the opening weekend of the season for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. The Penguins were forced to play on the road to start the 2024 campaign due to renovations in Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center, and the spring 2021 season that was affected by COVID-19 was all conference games. The Penguins are 9-6 in MTEs played on Rosselli Court since 2019.

YSU will look to build on home success from last season. The Penguins went 5-6 on their own floor in 2024, which matched their highest win total at home since 2000. YSU also had five wins at home in 2007, 2019 and 2022. YSU had its best winning percentage on Rosselli Court since going 5-5 in 2007.

2025 Schedule Overview

After starting the season with three matches at home, Youngstown State will play in three-match tournaments at Saint Francis (Pa.) and the College of Charleston. YSU will return home to face nearby Mid-American Conference opponents Akron and Kent State on Sept. 18-19 to conclude non-conference play. Youngstown State's first Horizon League match will be at Green Bay on Sept. 26, and the conference home opener will be against RMU on Sept. 30.

Four Named to Leadership Team

Four Youngstown State players comprise the leadership team in 2025: Bianca Giglio, Abbie Householder, Maria Insana and Gabriela Machin. Giglio was also a leader in 2024 in what was her first season as a Penguin. She began her career at Marshall and spent two seasons with the Thundering Herd. Insana and Machin are entering their third seasons at Youngstown State, and Householder is a fourth-year member.

Maria Insana is also serving in a leadership capacity at the Horizon League and department levels. She is the Career Development Officer on YSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and she is one of two Penguins on campus who are members of the Horizon League SAAC.

Facing Changes at Key Positions

Youngstown State will have new starters at key positions of setter, libero and middle blocker to start the season. Setter Isabel Schaefbauer and libero Niyah Setla were fifth-year seniors who exhausted their final years of eligibility in 2024, and middle blockers Dayan Malave and Kelsey Cooper are continuing their careers at other institutions.

The dropoff in experience at setter is particularly notable as Schaefbauer played in 89 matches and tallied more than 2,100 assists over three seasons at Youngstown State. Sophomore Juliana Rivera is the only player on the roster with collegiate experience at setter, having played in 17 sets last year and recording 71 assists. The other two Penguins setters are redshirt freshman Ava Prince and true freshman Kameron Blizniak.

Transfer Portal Additions

To help offset the transition from veterans in the offseason, YSU added three players through the transfer portal who were members of Division I programs in 2024. Middle blockers Niyah Lester and Taya Nordmann joined the program before the start of the spring semester, and setter Ava Prince signed on to become a Penguin in May. Nordmann started 29 matches at SIUE last season while ranking second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 1.14 blocks per set. Lester (Ball State) and Prince (Saint Francis U) both redshirted last fall.

Talented Freshmen Creating Position Battles

The theme of preseason practices was competitiveness as many players battled for primary roles during the roster transition from 2024. Much of that was driven by the talented freshman class, both those coming off redshirt seasons and those entering their first collegiate campaigns. The freshman defensive specialists include Kennedy Dawson and Brie Habeeb; the setters are Kameron Blizniak and Ava Prince (redshirt); the left-side hitters are Layne Graffice and Presley Stokes; the middle-blocker position has Niyah Lester (redshirt) along with Izzy Henry and Ava Stratton, who can also play on the right side.

Householder Took Big Step Forward in 2024

Abbie Householder took a huge step forward from her sophomore to junior season, setting career highs in every statistical category and becoming one of the top six-rotation players in the Horizon League. She ranked second in the conference in both kills (4.00) and points (4.55) per set, and she was one of two players to average at least 3.0 kills and digs per set. She enters her final season ranking in the top 20 in career history in kills (17th), attempts (8th), aces (17th) and points (18th), and she is 75 kills and 65 digs away from becoming the sixth Penguin to record 1,000 of each.

Penguins Slotted 10th in Preseason Poll

Youngstown State was picked to finish 10th in the Horizon League this season in the preseason poll of the conference's 10 head coaches. The top four teams in the poll - Wright State, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Cleveland - each received first-place votes, and there was a narrow gap in total points between the fourth-place Vikings, fifth-place IU Indianapolis and sixth-place Northern Kentucky. Purdue Fort Wayne was slotted seventh, while Oakland and RMU were in a tie for eighth ahead of the Penguins.