Sept. 15, 2009

Guins' Home Opener, 1,000th Match Set for this Week

Live Video on HLN | Gametracker: Butler, Valpo | Interviews: Lasseigne, Reid | Notes

Youngstown -- The Youngstown State volleyball team has an important and busy week ahead that includes its Horizon League and home openers on Thursday and the program's 1,000th match on Friday.

The Penguins play host to Butler to open the Horizon League season for both teams at the Beeghly Center Thursday at 7 p.m. YSU then welcomes Valparaiso on Friday evening at 7 for the milestone 1,000th match in school history.

Junior libero Laurie Shives has posted at least 10 digs in six of YSU's first nine matches of 2009.

The Penguins finished the early, non-conference portion of the season with a 2-6 record following two setbacks at Buffalo last weekend. YSU showed a big improvement in the second day of the two-match series, taking the Bulls past 25 in each of the first two sets. Ruth Boscaljon had 15 kills and seven blocks in the two matches, and both Tasha Reid and Suzanne Lasseigne had 11 kills.

YSU had nine blocks in the three-set affair on Saturday against the Bulls, bringing its season total to 68 blocks in 29 sets. The Guins' 2.34 blocks per set ranked 62nd in the nation as of Sept. 13. They'll need a strong block to slow down Butler's Jessica Wolfe and Valpo's Angie Porche. Wolfe's average of 4.79 kills per set is 1.36 higher than the second-place average in the Horizon League. Porche is the defending Horizon League Player of the Year, and her 3.00 kills per set ranks this season ranks sixth in the circuit. YSU ranked 30th nationally last season with 2.56 blocks per set.

YSU continues a busy week on Sunday with two matches at the Pitt Blue and Gold Tournament. The Penguins will play the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 10 a.m. and Pittsburgh at 5 p.m.