Oct. 6, 2009
Balanced Offense Leads Penguins Past Wright State in Four
Youngstown -- Five Penguins finished with at least eight kills, and Youngstown State hung on to defeat Wright State in four sets - 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 26-24 - on Tuesday evening at the Beeghly Center.
The win guarantees YSU (6-11, 4-3 Horizon) at least a .500 mark through the first half of the Horizon League season. YSU's first wave through the league schedule ends tomorrow night against Cleveland State at 7.
The four victories also matches YSU's conference win total from
2007, and, at 4-3, the Penguins have their best start to the league slate in school
history.
Wright State falls to 8-11 overall and 0-6 in league contests.
Brittany Grove had a team-high 16 kills for Youngstown State while Kaitlin O'Hara had 15, Ruth Boscaljon had 13, Haley Kapferer had 12 and Allison Heinz had eight. Freshman setter Angela Roidt dished out 56 assists, which is the highest individual total for the Penguins this season.
Boscaljon added eight blocks, and libero Laurie Shives had a match-high 20 digs.
Lexi Leonhard tied Grove for the match high with 16 kills, and Jessica Woods and Shaunda Sandifer added 13 and 12, respectively.
The match featured 20 ties and five lead changes, but the only tie in the fourth set was at 24-24 and YSU never trailed. The Penguins scored the first four in the set and led 7-1 on Boscaljon's kill, but Wright State rallied to get within 8-6 on a Sandifer kill. YSU went on a roll to go ahead 16-19 on a Grove kill, and the Guins led 22-17 after another Grove finish. Wright State rallied to tie the score at 24-24, but Grove followed with her seventh kill of the set and Boscaljon and O'Hara came up with a block on match point.
Wright State led the entire first half of the first set until YSU's 5-1 run tied the score at 12-12. That run was highlighted by five straight kills - one by Kapferer, three by Grove and another from Boscaljon. YSU took its first lead at 16-15, and, after Wright State knotted the score at 19, YSU scored the final six points of the set to win 25-19.
YSU led by two twice early in the second set, but Wright State pulled ahead 13-9 and never relinquished the lead. YSU tied the score at 19 on a Boscaljon kill and two more times before Wright State scored three of the final four points.
The Penguins seized control of the match midway through the third set with a 9-0 run on Grove's serve. Wright State led 14-12, but five kills, two blocks, and an attack and set error by the Raiders resulted in a 21-14 lead for the Guins.