Aline Scott served as Youngstown State’s head volleyball coach for six seasons from 2018-23. She announced her resignation on Feb. 22, 2024, to pursue career opportunities outside of coaching, and her last day will be March 15.
Scott, the 10th head coach in program history, came to Youngstown having spent eight seasons as a coach in Ohio, including the three most recent seasons as the head coach at Hiram College. She was previously an assistant coach at Akron for five seasons, and she was the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for two years in between.
In her six seasons as a Penguin, she recruited and developed talented student-athletes that helped move the program forward. She recruited and coached the first Honorable Mention All-American in YSU's history, a Horizon League Player of the Year, two all-conference players and two members of the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. Additionally, YSU had nine Academic All-Horizon League selections and eight academic all-district honorees in her six-year tenure. The team also earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award in each of her seasons.
2022
The Penguins experienced a year of major growth in Scott's fifth season as they posted their best record in eight years and set a new school record for Horizon League wins with eight. YSU won eight out of 11 matches from Oct. 1 through Nov. 4, and that hot stretch was enough to allow the Guins to qualify for the Horizon League Volleyball Championship for the first time since 2014.
YSU hit .216 for the season, which was its best attack percentage since 2014 and the second-best mark since 1999. The Penguins averaged 12.48 kills per set, which was also its highest in eight seasons. Additionally, YSU averaged 1.62 aces per set, which was its most for a season since the 2001 squad averaged 1.90 aces per set. The Penguins had their best attack percentage ever in Horizon League play by hitting .214, and their 12.86 kills per set in conference matches were the most by a Penguins team since 2012.
Individually, sophomore outside hitter Paula Gursching had one of the best individual seasons in school and Horizon League history. She became the first player in program history to be named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, and she was also the first Penguin to be named First-Team All-Region. She was voted the Horizon League Player of the Year while ranking third in the country in both kills and points per set. Gursching was named the Horizon League Player of the Week six times during the season and set numerous YSU and league records.
Senior setter and right-side hitter Josi Borum also had an outstanding season to be named Second Team All-Horizon League. Borum led the country with 10 triple-doubles, and she ranked among the top 10 in the conference in hitting percentage and assists per set. Fellow returner Isidora Sisic led the conference in aces and ranked seventh in the circuit in digs per set in her first season as YSU's libero.
Newcomers were a big part of YSU's success in 2022. Abbie Householder was the most celebrated newcomer as she was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team after ranking third on the team in kills and digs. Isabel Schaefbauer led the team with 622 assists and 5.27 assists per set as a setter in the 6-2 offense, and the Penguins got a big lift from new middle blockers Dayan Malave and Julia Sell. Malave Malave played in all but three sets and led the team with 85 total blocks, and Sell was strong in the second half of the season and averaged a team-best 0.88 blocks per set
In the classroom, YSU earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 10th straight season. The Penguins had a 3.627 GPA in the fall and a 3.577 in the spring for a yearly mark of 3.605. Gursching and Sisic were voted to the Horizon League All-Academic Team, and Borum, Gursching and Sisic were named Academic All-District by the College Sports Communicators.
2021
The Penguins showed that they were on the rise on the offensive end during 2021, having their best attack percentage since 2015, their most kills per attempt since 2016 and their most aces per set since 2001.
Gursching was the catalyst for the offense as was named All-Horizon League and to the conference’s All-Freshman Team after pacing the league in kills (4.06) and points (4.70) per set. Gursching broke numerous school records during the season, including shattering the previous mark for kills by a freshman by 67.
Youngstown State caught national attention for a night in September when it served 24 aces in a four-set match against Duquesne in a neutral-site match at Kent State. The 24 aces were five more than any other team had in a match of any length during the season, and it topped the previous school record for aces in a match by seven. YSU was just two aces shy of the NCAA record for aces in a four-set match. Gursching had 13 of those aces, the most by a Division I player in a four-set match since 2003, as part of a triple-double.
The win over Duquesne on Sept. 17 avenged a three-set loss to the Dukes in the opening match of the season, and it gave an early glimpse of YSU’s improvement over the season. After being swept in eight of their first 10 Horizon League matches, YSU went at least four sets in seven straight matches in the second half of the conference slate. The Penguins beat Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris, teams they lost to in the first meeting, and they took Green Bay and Oakland to five sets after being swept earlier in the season.
On the academic front, the Penguins earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the ninth consecutive campaign, and Nadia Pace was voted to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for her combined accomplishments on the court and in the classroom. Pace was YSU’s fifth All-Academic honoree since 2018.
2020-21
The Penguins played 14 matches during the 2020-21 spring season, and Scott worked in nine new student-athletes to get ready for the fall. All 19 players appeared in a match, and 16 different student-athletes started at least once.
Libero Margaux Thompson finished off her career in the spring, and she finished her tenure as a Penguin with 1,239 digs, which is the fourth-most in school history. Thompson's 3.56 digs per set over her career is the second-best average in school history.
While Thompson was a veteran, Borum highlighted the nine newcomers as a transfer from Chicago State. Borum made an immediate impact as she averaged a team-high 2.65 kills per set and led the squad in kills in 13 of its 14 matches. She posted YSU's first triple-double by a Penguin since 2008 with 17 kills, 17 digs and 22 assists against Robert Morris on March 8.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the Penguins demonstrated excellence in the classroom in 2020-21. The team had a 3.61 GPA in the fall and a 3.64 GPA in the spring, and all 19 student-athletes on the roster had a cumulative GPA above 3.0 at the end of the academic year.
2019
In Scott’s second year as the Penguins’ head coach in 2019, YSU tied its highest win total at Beeghly Center in the last 18 years while also matching its top overall and Horizon League win totals in the last four years. YSU also posted its best winning percentage since 2015.
For the second straight year, YSU won its season-opening tournament. Behind tournament MVP Brooklen Pe’a, YSU won the Penguin Classic on Aug. 30-31 at Beeghly Center by beating Saint Francis U, Bucknell and The Citadel. Alexia Byrnes and Aleah Hughes were also named to the all-tournament team.
Two Penguins achieved significant milestones during the season as Byrnes became the 11th setter in program history to reach 1,000 career assists, and Thompson became the 17th Penguin to surpass 1,000 career digs. Thompson played in the libero position for most of the season, and she posted career highs of 394 digs and 3.90 digs per set in 2019.
YSU also had a notable 2019 fall semester in the classroom. Senior Erin Kalahar became the first YSU volleyball player since Jessica Fraley in 2007 to be named CoSIDA Academic All-District, and she and Hughes were named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for the second straight year. The Penguins posted an impressive 3.61 GPA collectively.
2018
The Penguins won six of their first nine matches of the Scott era and claimed the Bucknell Invitational tournament title in the first weekend. The Penguins beat Saint Peter's, NJIT and Bucknell at the tournament, and they went on to also defeat UNLV, Duquesne and George Mason in non-conference play. The win over George Mason was the 500th in program history.
Thompson was named the MVP of the Bucknell Invitational to begin a year of progression for the sophomore, and she was also named to the All-Tournament Team at Duquesne. Hughes made a big impact on her return to the program. After taking a year away from the sport in 2017, she led the team with 2.70 kills and 3.87 digs per set, becoming the first Penguin to lead the team in both kills and digs in 15 years. Hughes was the only player in the Horizon League to lead her team in both kills and digs per set, and she was also the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 in both categories.
Hughes and Kalahar were both named Academic All-Horizon League, and the team posted a 3.62 cumulative GPA for the fall 2018 semester.
The Penguins saw a major uptick in digs per set in Scott’s first year, going from 14.64 in 2017 to 17.70 in 2018. That average ranked 19th in the country, and it was the highest by a Penguins team since 2007.
Before YSU
Scott led Hiram to 61 victories over her three seasons as head coach of the Terriers. At the campus located 35 miles from Youngstown, she coached a Division III All-American, two all-region student-athletes, a North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year and seven All-NCAC honorees. Scott's success came with a horde of newcomers as she welcomed 18 student-athletes to the program in a two-year stretch, including 10 the previous year. Her 2017 squad that won 19 matches had eight freshmen, six of which were Ohio natives.
In her two seasons at IUP, she coached the school's first All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first-team honoree in seven years. She assembled two talented recruiting classes who went on to lead the Crimson Hawks to 25 wins and their first victory in the NCAA Tournament in 12 years in 2017. Off the court, she largely expanded the program's donor database and led the program to a campus-high 3.73 GPA.
Scott was part of a significant growth period at Akron in her five seasons from 2008-12. The Zips went from finishing 12th in the MAC in her first season to a fifth-place finish in her last season in 2012. With Scott as the recruiting coordinator, the Zips were 16-13 overall and 9-7 in the MAC in 2012, which represents their second-highest win total since 2003.
In her first collegiate coaching experience as a graduate assistant, she helped Central Michigan to a 22-10 mark in 2007 for its first 20-win season in 22 years.
Scott (DosSantos) is a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and played collegiately at Marist. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications with a concentration in international communications in 2005. She posted 436 kills in 2002, which is the second-highest single-season total in Marist history. Scott went on to earn a master's in sport administration from Central Michigan in 2008.
Scott lives in Poland, Ohio, with her husband Greg and her sons Matheus and Marcelo.
