By Courtney Cina
Jambar Contributor
The Youngstown State University volleyball team hosted the University of Toledo in its last event of its spring schedule Saturday at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins were supposed to take on Cleveland State University and the Toledo Rockets, but the Vikings were not in attendance due to injuries. The Penguins fell behind the Rockets in a loss of five games.
“Over the course of our spring schedule, we made a ton of improvement as team,” Penguins coach Aline Scott said. “Toledo brought out what we need to work on and what to expectations to reach for the upcoming season.”
Defense was key in order to keep up with Toledo. YSU’s blocking and passing were its strong suits of the match.
“Our expectations for this match was to work on more detailed techniques as players. Therefore, we can come back better and stronger for the season to come,” senior outside hitter Aleah Hughes, said.
Hughes said playing only one opponent gave the Penguins a chance to focus on personal improvement.
“We played with the mind state of taking on two teams today, but with Cleveland State not attending the match due to injuries, this was the perfect opportunity to focus on each other as individuals,” Hughes said.
The Penguins’ performance was not reflected on the scoreboard, but it did highlight improvements the team made throughout the month of April.
“In this match, we expected to make progress,” sophomore setter Alexia Byrnes said. “We were able to learn so much about our team and what we need to fix by the time next season comes.”
When the time comes, the Penguins will be ready to turn up the intensity in the upcoming fall season. A goal of the team is to put YSU volleyball on the map.
“Our team is very excited to get in the recruits that were just commited, totalling in five from last season and five more this coming season,” Byrnes said. “So the expectations are high and the team is ready.”
The work the team has put in has Scott ready for fall.
“These girls are very hardworking and this summer we plan to work as a whole to be for this coming fall season,” Scott said.
