By Marissa Masano
The Youngstown State University women’s volleyball team played Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Purdue University Fort Wayne and Robert Morris University in a three-match homestand to conclude its 2023 regular season.
The Penguins opened their Nov. 3 game with a dominant 25-18 set victory. In this set, the team hit .343 and had six aces.
The team dropped the second and third sets, 25-11 and 21-18, respectively. The third set saw seven ties and three lead changes.
IUPUI led 21-18 late in the fourth set, but freshman Jocelyn Jourdan and senior Dayan Malave combined for a block to tie the game at 21.
Freshman Maria Insana’s ace and sophomore Julia Sell’s solo block forced the set point. Jourdan sealed the fourth set victory with a kill.
The ‘Guins won the fifth set 15-12. After a timeout, the team took the lead with Jourdan factoring in on five of the six final points.
Jourdan finished with a team-high 13 kills and three blocks. All of the freshman’s blocks came in the fifth set.
Graduate student Josi Borum posted a double-double with 21 assists and 19 digs. Additionally, she led the team in assists and digs.
On Nov. 4, the ‘Guins fell to PFW in three sets. The set scores were 25-18, 27-25, and 25-18.
In the matchup, Borum led the team in kills, assists and digs. She finished with nine kills, 12 assists and 11 digs. Borum was one kill shy of a triple double.
The ‘Guins finished their season sweeping Robert Morris 3-0. The team celebrated its seniors on senior night along with the three-set victory. For head coach Aline Scott, sending out her seniors with a win at home meant a lot.
“I’m just so happy we can go out on a win, and a 3-0 win is even better. I think it’s the first one we’ve had all season, so we saved it for a good time,” Scott said.
Youngstown State won the first set 25-19 and had zero attacking errors during the set. The team posted a .385 hitting percentage as well. Scott said attacking consistency is something the team has been striving for all season.
“Aside from attacking, we talk about keeping our errors low at every single match, and we really haven’t been able to do it very well, very consistently. Today the attacking errors and errors overall were really low for us, so it was a good execution day,” Scott said.
In the second set, the ‘Guins trailed once and then pulled away to take the win, 25-15. Youngstown won the third set, 25-15.
Playing her last match as a Penguin, Borum posted 17 assists, nine digs and eight kills.
Sophomore Abbie Householder led in kills and digs. She also held the night’s only double-double with 13 kills, 15 digs and three aces.
Senior Kiley Mitchell led in blocks with four and also recorded four kills. Both were season highs for Mitchell.
Graduate student Isidora Sisic surpassed 900 digs in her Penguin career after registering 10 against the Colonials.
Senior Elise Moeller ranked second in kills and blocks for her team. The senior had nine kills, nine digs and three blocks.
For Jourdan, these seniors have set a standard she wants to uphold as the freshman continues her Penguin career.
“They’re all such [great] leaders, and they’re great captains. They all work hard, and they all show compassion for the game, and I think it shows me the kind of player I want to be for the underclassmen when I’m a senior,” Jourdan said.
The YSU women’s volleyball team ended its season 9-20 overall and a 4-14 mark in Horizon League play.