Thompson Sets Digs Record in Loss at Green Bay

by YSU

Monday, Nov 10, 2014 11:00 am

Junior libero Nikki Thompson set Youngstown State's single season digs record on Saturday evening as the Penguins dropped a five-setter at Green Bay. The set scores were 19-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-22, 15-10.

Thompson, an Indianapolis native, posted a career-high 30 digs against the Phoenix to bring her season total to 471. That breaks the old record of 448 set by Heather Luben in 1996. Lexi Egler also surpassed 300 digs for the year on Saturday to become the fourth player in school history to have back-to-back seasons with 300 kills and 300 digs.

The loss was the third straight for YSU, which played without starting setter Val Jeffery this weekend. The Penguins are now 16-12 overall and 7-6 in Horizon League play, which is tied for fourth in the standings.

"We're very disappointed with tonight's loss," YSU head coach Mark Hardaway said. "Green Bay played well, and we played tight and weren't focused defensively. We played hard, but the focus wasn't there. We also had some communication issues and were out of sync offensively most of the night."

"I know the team is frustrated with our two losses this weekend, but I'm very confident that we'll recover and find a way to get back on track."

Green Bay committed nine attack errors in the first set as YSU won 25-19, but the Phoenix scored four of the last five points of the first set and carried it over to take the second set 25-15. Youngstown State had 15 kills and hit .308 in the third set to go up 2-1 in the match.

The Phoenix scored four of the final five points in the fourth set, including one on a dump by setter Emily Riese that clipped the top of the net at 23-22. Green Bay then jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fifth set and held off YSU once it got within three twice.

Egler finished with a team-high 15 kills, and fellow senior Shannon Watson had 12. Megan Powers posted a match-high 20 kills to lead Green Bay.

Youngstown State will play its final home match of the season on Friday at 7 p.m. against Cleveland State.

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