By Zach Flesch / The Jambar
Wins on the road helped the Youngstown State University women’s volleyball team climb back into contention for the 2025 Horizon League Volleyball Championship. The team defeated Indiana University Indianapolis on Oct. 17-18 in back-to-back matches.
The Penguins outlasted the Jaguars in five sets and followed with a 3-1 win on Saturday afternoon. The pair of victories marked Youngstown State’s first road sweep since 2022 and improved the team to 9-11 overall and 4-5 in league play.
Senior Abbie Householder led the charge Friday with 27 kills, the second-highest total of her career. Freshman Layne Graffice notched a career-best 20 kills and 14 digs.
Junior Gabriela Machin rounded out the offense for the Penguins with 13 kills on 28 attempts. Between Householder, Graffice and Machin, the trio combined for a 34.1% hitting percentage.
Freshman Kameron Blizniak directed the offense with 57 assists, and YSU finished with an overall 31.6% hitting percentage.
Householder and Graffice carried that momentum into Saturday’s match, as Machin led the attack with 18 kills on 37.5% hitting. Graffice followed with 15 kills, and Householder registered a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs. Blizniak tallied 44 assists and 10 digs for her second straight double-double, giving her 101 assists over the weekend.
The Penguins controlled key stretches in both matches, using a 6-0 first-set run Saturday and a 6-1 surge in Friday’s fifth set to seal the wins.
With the Horizon League Championships beginning Nov. 21-23, at the time of publication, Northern Kentucky University holds the No. 1 seed and will host the tournament at its receptive campus site.
Wright State University holds the No. 2 spot, and will receive a bye before traveling to Highland Heights, Kentucky. The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and IU Indy hold the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.
The No. 5 University of Oakland is close behind with a 5-4 conference record. Youngstown State rounds out the No. 6 spot.
The Penguins will continue Horizon League play against the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee at 4 p.m. Oct. 24 and 11 a.m. Oct. 25 at Zidian Family Arena inside Beeghly Center.