Youngstown State head volleyball coach Mark Hardaway will make a return trip to a place he spent 10 years as an assistant coach, and the Penguins will play their final non-conference tournament of the season this weekend. YSU will play at Bowling Green on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before heading to Saint Francis U for matches against the Red Flash and Akron Zips on Saturday. There will be live stats, audio and video available for the game against the Falcons.

The Penguins went 1-3 last weekend against some tough competition, losing three-set matches to Arizona State and Bradley, beating Saint Louis in four and losing to Miami (Ohio) in five. Heading into the week, the teams were a combined 19-6. Missy Hundelt, a St. Louis native, was named to the Billiken Challenge All-Tournament Team in front of friends and family. Including the match against Arizona State, Hundelt averaged 3.27 kills, 3.20 digs and 1.40 blocks in the four matches last week. The Penguins actually outhit their four opponents .217 to .210 and averaged 0.8 more blocks per set last week despite their 1-3 record.

Bowling Green is the favorite to win the MAC East division, but the Falcons are 1-7 against a tough slate. Their victory came against then-ranked #13 BYU, and the Falcons have played a total of four ranked teams. Akron won its first four matches but is 1-4 since, and Saint Francis U is winless in 10 matches.

Youngstown State will play at Robert Morris on Sept. 24, and the Penguins will open Horizon League play against Cleveland State at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 at Beeghly Center.

@YSUVolleyball Quick Hitters

• Youngstown State head coach Mark Hardaway was an assistant at Bowling Green for 10 years under former coach Denise Van De Walle. He was on the bench from 1991-92 and 2004-11. The Falcons were 206-122 during Hardaway's 10 seasons. Six of Bowling Green's current players had Hardaway as a coach.
• Hardaway is in his second season as YSU's head coach. Last year he led the Penguins to a 15-14 record, their best since 1999.
• YSU will have two chances for its first win over a team from the Mid-American Conference since 2008. The Penguins have lost 16 straight matches against MAC teams, including five-set losses to Toledo and Miami (Ohio) this season.
• Missy Hundelt has been named to three all-tournament teams this season. She ranks seventh in the Horizon League in blocks and eighth in kills.
• Preseason Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Jenna Cavanaugh leads the conference in blocks with 1.45 per set. The Penguins rank second in the league as a team.

Recapping Last Week

L, 3-0 vs. Arizona State – The Penguins were mostly competitive against Arizona State, which was two spots out of the AVCA Top 25 poll, is a 25-21, 25-11, 25-21 loss. Missy Hundelt led all players with 13 kills, and Jackie Carlisle finished with eight. YSU was hurt by eight receiving errors. The match against the Sun Devils was YSU's first ever against a team from the PAC-12. Shannon Watson, who started 27 matches in 2012, made her first appearance of the season after missing the first six matches with an abdominal injury.

L, 3-0 vs. Bradley – Bradley hit .246 as a team despite YSU's 11 blocks in a close 25-23, 26-24, 25-20 sweep. Hundelt led the Penguins with 11 kills, eight digs and four blocks, and Carlisle was solid again with 10 kills on a .391 attack percentage. YSU led 15-8 and 21-17 in the first set before losing, and Bradley ended the match on a 9-3 run.

W, 3-1 at Saint Louis – YSU hit an impressive .291 and registered 13 blocks to beat Saint Louis 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-21. After losing the first set, YSU seized control by going up 13-4 in the second set. The Penguins scored six of the final seven points of the third set, and they overcame a 15-10 deficit in the fourth set by ending the match on a 15-6 run.

L, 2-3 vs. Miami (Ohio) – YSU rallied from a two-set deficit against the RedHawks before falling 25-16, 27-25, 19-25, 16-25, 15-9. The Penguins ended the third set on an 8-2 run and led by as much as 21-10 in the fourth set. YSU held an 8-7 lead in the fifth set before Miami scored eight of the final nine points. Alexis Egler tied her career high with 18 kills.

Scouting The Opponents

Bowling Green has started 1-7 against a tough schedule that includes four ranked teams and three other opponents in BCS automatic qualifying conferences. BG was the preseason favorite to win the MAC East, and Lindsey Butterfield, Paige Penrod and Danielle Tonyan were all preseason all-conference. All three of them are averaging at least 2.7 kills. YSU is 0-5 all-time against BG with the last contest coming in 2006.

Akron is 5-4 after losing all three of its matches at the Montana State Tournament over the weekend. The Zips started the season 4-0. Akron was picked to finish fifth in the preseason MAC East poll, two spots below YSU's most recent opponent, Miami (Ohio). Senior Alex Cocklin is averaging a team-high 3.27 kills per set. YSU is 7-43 all-time against the Zips and has lost 28 straight matches in the series dating back to 1985.

Saint Francis U is 0-10 following a winless weekend at the UMBC Tournament. The Red Flash was one of the teams in the YSU Invitational that was held at Beeghly Center on Sept. 6-7 and took one set from the Penguins. The Red Flash are hitting .063 as a team, and Kayla Jeckell leads the way with 2.26 kills per set. YSU is 29-3 all-time against SFU.

YSU Ups Strength of the Non-Conference Schedule

• YSU won't match its 10-4 record from last season's non-conference schedule, but the Penguins have played much tougher opponents in 2013.
• YSU's non-conference opponents in 2013 had an average RPI of 200 during the 2012 season. That's up from an average of 236.4 on the 2012 schedule.

Hundelt Joins the 1,000th Kills Club

• YSU senior Missy Hundelt became the 11th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills on Sept. 7 against Toledo.
• Hundelt's 1,054 career kills currently ranks seventh in school history. If she matches her average total from the past two seasons, she'll finish her career with the fourth-most kills in school history.
• Hundelt also has 892 digs in her career. Only four players in school history have surpassed 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs, the most-recent accomplishing the feat in 1999.