By William Staten / The Jambar
After its first conference loss of the season on Sept. 22, the Youngstown State University volleyball team split a two-game series against Indiana University Indianapolis at Zidian Family Arena on Oct. 2-3.
In Game One, which served as Youngstown State’s conference home opener, both teams were even in kills — the Jaguars recorded 33 and the Penguins posted 32. Freshman Korina Barber led the team in several statistics, including kills with nine, an attack percentage of 50%, block assists with two and total points with 10.
Youngstown State recorded an attacking percentage of 25.9% to IU Indy’s 11.3%. The Jaguars had 21 attacking errors compared to the Penguins’ 10.
The first set ended 25-22 in favor of Youngstown State. The ’Guins pulled ahead late in the second set and won 25-12. IU Indy kept the third set close before a kill from fifth-year senior Abbie Householder sealed Game One for the Penguins in a 3-0 set victory.
Head coach Riley Jarrett said the team did a good job of staying focused during the 10-day break between games.
“To have that long of a break, there’s pros and cons,” Jarrett said. “Our group did a great job of staying locked in on the things we needed to get better at.”
In Game Two, sophomore Layne Graffice led the team in kills with 16 and attacking percentage with 25.6%. The Penguins offense stalled with a team attacking percentage of 16.1% compared to the Jaguars’ 28.4%.
IU Indy led Youngstown State in kills with 66 and won the defensive fight with three solo blocks, 16 block assists and 77 digs. The Penguins committed 31 errors while IU Indy committed 18.
The first set was close before the Jaguars won 25-23. The Penguins bounced back with an extended second set win of 29-27. IU Indy and Youngstown State each won one of the next two sets, which led to the fifth set.
Both teams kept the score even before IU Indy scored six straight points to pull ahead 13-7. Youngstown State fell at the end by a score of 15-9 for a 3-2 set loss to the Jaguars.
The Penguins hold a 5-9 record overall with a 1-2 record in the Horizon League. The team will look to even its conference record Oct. 9-10 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to face the University of Purdue Fort Wayne in a two-game series.