Penguins Beat Toledo in Four Sets to Earn Split on Friday

by YSU

Monday, Sep 14, 2015 7:36 am

Youngstown State used nine aces and a balanced offensive attack to beat Toledo on Friday evening at the Country Financial Redbird Classic at Illinois State. The set scores were 27-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-21. The Penguins lost to ISU earlier in the day, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21.

The win over the Rockets gave the Penguins a season sweep of the in-state opponent. YSU's first win of the season came over Toledo on Aug. 29 in straight sets. The Penguins have a 5-5 record, and a win against IUPUI on Saturday morning at the tournament would put them above .500 for the first time this season.

Sam Brown, Aly Ryan and Sarah Varcolla all had 10 kills against Toledo, and Brown added 13 digs to finish with the only double-double of the match. Libero Nikki Thompson notched 21 digs, bringing her career total to 987.

YSU led 11-6 in the first set, but Toledo rallied and took a 15-13 lead behind Maurissa Leonard's serve. The Rockets extended their lead to 20-15, and they were in position to take the set with a 24-22 lead. Ryan had back-to-back kills to tie the set, and the Penguins ended up scoring five of the final six points of the set.

Toledo took a 7-6 lead and held it the rest of the second set, and the third set followed a similar course in YSU's favor. The Penguins took the lead at 9-8 on a block by Ryan and Brown and did not trail again in taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

Youngstown State had to rally again in the fourth set. Toledo led 19-16 before YSU scored five straight points as part of a 9-2 run to end the match.

In YSU's first match of the day, the Penguins struggled to slow down Illinois State's offense. The Redbirds averaged 17 kills per set while posting a .345 attack percentage.

Ryan and Brown had seven kills apiece, and Thompson posted 13 digs. Lori Vanbeek was the match's top blocker with three block assists.

Youngstown State trailed just 11-9 in the opening set after a kill from Brown, but Illinois State scored seven of the next eight points to go up 18-10. The Redbirds led by at least six the rest of the set. Illinois State opened the second set on a 6-2 spurt, and an 8-3 run later in the set put the home team up 19-11. In the third set, YSU used a 7-3 run to get within 13-10, but that's as close as it would get. The Penguins trailed just 21-18 late before the Redbirds closed out the match on a 4-2 run.

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