Penguins Push Milwaukee to Five Sets Before Falling

by YSU

Sunday, Nov 17, 2013 11:05 am

The Youngstown State volleyball team pushed Milwaukee to five sets before eventually falling to the Horizon League champion Panthers 25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 29-31, 15-8 in a spirited match on Friday evening at Beeghly Center.

Milwaukee won convincingly in the first two sets, but YSU rallied to win the next two sets to force a fifth set. The Panthers, who clinched the outright conference title win its win, never trailed and hit .391 in the fifth set.

Alexis Egler had 11 of her team-high 16 kills in the third and fourth sets, and Erika West finished with 21 digs. Nichele Johnson and Jenna Cavanaugh both had six blocks, and Jessie Gerig registered 26 assists. Youngstown State dropped to 15-13 overall and 7-6 in Horizon League play with the loss. The Penguins are now fifth in the conference standings but can still finish tied for third.

Julie Kolinske had a match-high 18 kills to lead four Panthers in double figures in kills. Taylor Golabowski had a match-high 22 digs, and Rachel Neuberger had 17 kills and five blocks.

Milwaukee hit .383 combined in the first two sets to take the 2-0 lead, but the Penguins held them to .000 in the third. The Panthers led 6-1 early and 20-14 later before YSU rallied. The Penguins scored the next seven points on Gerig's serve to go up 21-20, and they scored the final three points of the set once the match was tied at 22. Egler had three of YSU's points during the 7-0 run, and she had an ace to start the final run. Jackie Carlisle's kill gave the Penguins set point, and Gerig's kill finished it.

The fourth set had many memorable moments with 21 ties and five lead changes before the Penguins prevailed. Milwaukee's 8-6 lead was the only time either team had an advantage more than one until the Panthers went back on top 15-13. They extended the lead to 19-15 before the Penguins rallied again to tie the score at 19. Milwaukee eventually held a 24-22 lead, and it would go on to have six match points that YSU saved. A Carlisle and Johnson block gave the Penguins the lead at 29-28, their first advantage since 11-10, and YSU ended the set on a UWM serving error and a Carlisle ace. All five of Watson's kills in the set came after the score 19-18.

Milwaukee scored five of the first six points in the fifth set, and it scored five consecutive points once YSU trimmed the deficit to 6-5. The Penguins got no closer than five the rest of the way.

Youngstown State will play its final match of the regular season on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Green Bay. The program's six seniors will be honored prior to the match as part of the annual Senior Day festivities.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	T
Milwaukee (16-9, 12-1 HL)	25	25	22	29	15	3
Youngstown State (15-13, 7-6 HL)	18	16	25	31	8	2

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