By Kyle Wills and Kathryn Rogers-Vadala
Following a disappointing loss to Cleveland State University Sept. 20, the Youngstown State University volleyball team’s struggles continued following its road trip to Wisconsin.
The trip started with a four-set match against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where the Penguins fell to the Panthers 3-1. Youngstown State started the match with a set victory before losing the next three.
Sophomore Paula Gursching recorded her eighth-straight double-digit kill performance with 14 kills on a .250 hitting percentage. Senior Josi Borum and sophomore Kiyah Franklin followed behind her with nine kills each while Borum also added 23 assists.
Freshman Abbie Householder added six kills and 10 digs while sophomore Isabel Schaefbauer added to the assist total with 17.
The women then made the trip to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Penguins fell again in four sets 3-1 after claiming the third set.
Gursching added 21 kills to her weekend total on a .309 hitting percentage. Borum recorded her fourth triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 22 assists and 13 digs.
Househoulder was the only other Penguin with double-digit kills with 10, while senior Isidora Sisic was the only other Penguin with digs in double figures at 16. Schaefbauer was also the only member of Youngstown State with more than 10 assists recording 19.
The women made their way back to the Beeghly Center to start a four-match homestand, beginning against the University of Oakland Sept. 27. Despite a commanding 1-0 lead, the Penguins dropped their fifth consecutive match in four sets 3-1.
Borum now leads Division I in triple-double performances, as she posted her fifth of the season with 13 kills, 18 assists and 18 digs. Gursching followed with a double-double, consisting of 20 kills and 13 digs.
Schaefbauer assisted on nearly half of the team’s kills with 23, while Borum and Sisic both led the defense with 18 digs.
In three of the last four losses, the Penguins claimed the first set. Head coach Aline Scott said it’s hard to win when you lose control of the match.
“Once you give momentum to another team, it’s hard to take it back. Volleyball is such an energy-driven-momentum-shift type of game. Once [Oakland] got the momentum, it was hard for us to recover,” Scott said.
Householder said the team starts off strong, but becomes passive as the match progresses.
“The energy drops after the first set. We come out really strong and excited with the drive that we are going to beat them then we just spaz a little bit,” Householder said. “We all know we can do it. We just need to have the drive there.”
Scott said the key for the upcoming matches is to play at the same pace for the entirety of each set.
“[The key is] consistency because if we can come out and win 25 to 9, that means we know what to do. We just have to be able to stay consistent,” Scott said.
The Youngstown State volleyball team continues Horizon League play Sept. 30 welcoming Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Oct. 1 against Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
