By Cecelia Chase / The Jambar
With two tournaments under its belt, the Youngstown State University women’s volleyball team starts off 4-2 overall for the first time since the 2019 season.
Junior Gabriella Machin earned Horizon League Player of the Week honors in the opening tournament Aug. 29-30 at Zidian Family Arena in Beeghly Center.
The YSU Invitational resulted in a 2-1 record for the Penguins who defeated Mercyhurst University, fell to Duquesne University and rebounded with a win against Canisius University — all in three sets.
In the opening match against the Lakers, the team hit 36.7% with 25 combined kills from Machin and senior Abbie Househoulder.
The Penguins followed with a tough matchup against Duquesne, where two sets were decided by only two points. The three-set sweep consisted of scores 34-36, 20-25 and 23-25.
Undeterred from the loss, YSU went on to defeat the Griffins in three straight sets. Housholder and Machin led the team in kills with 13 and nine, respectively. Householder also contributed 11 digs — her third double-double of the season.
Freshman Layne Graffice added to the effort with 12 kills and 11 digs — her first career double-double. While freshman Kameron Blizniak added 32 assists and pushed YSU to another victory.
After a strong showing Aug. 30, the ’Guins hit the road again Sept. 5 traveling to St. Francis University to compete in the Altoona Grand Red Flash Classic. In the two-day tournament, YSU faced a trio of teams, including St. Francis, Lafayette College and Siena University.
In the opening match against the Leopards, the Penguins came up short in five sets after their return from a 2-0 deficit. Despite the loss, freshman Brie Habeeb and sophomore Taya Norman, set new match bests. Habeeb contributed 26 digs, while Nordmann debuted with six blocks.
The following morning, the Penguins swept the Red Flash and used the momentum to wrap up the weekend with a victory over the Saints.
Youngstown State took advantage in the morning, serving nine aces with only two errors. Graffice secured another double-double with 10 kills and digs, followed by her third double-double that evening as she posted 13 kills and 10 digs.
Householder closed out the tournament with two landmarks as she surpassed both 1,000 career kills and digs. She is only the 15th Penguin in program history to hit 1,000 kills and 18th to notch 1,000 digs.
Head Coach Riley Jarrett commended the team for its winning performances against St. Francis and Siena.
“We lost our first match on Friday in five — one that we definitely wish we could have back to Lafayette. They did a lot of good things. We just started off a little bit slow, but then I thought we really rebounded when we played Saint Francis and Siena that second day,” Jarrett said.
As the Penguins prepare for Horizon League play, Jarrett said there is one word that describes how the team is approaching that challenge.
“If I had to pick one word, [to describe the character of this group] I would probably say competitive,” Jarrett added. “No matter if we’re playing matches, in practices, lifts, or conditioning — they compete in the little things. And that really pours into everyone.”
Youngstown State will travel to South Carolina to compete in the CofC Invitational on Sept. 12-14 to face off against the College of Charleston, Stetson University and Quinnipiac University.