Blog

Sep 16, 2023

Penguins Begin 2023 Volleyball Season Hosting Tournament in Beeghly This Weekend

Volleyball 8/23/2023 12:53:00 PM The Youngstown State volleyball team will begin its 2023 campaign this Friday and Saturday by hosting the DoubleTree by Hilton YSU Invitational, presented by Mercy

Volleyball 8/23/2023 12:53:00 PM

The Youngstown State volleyball team will begin its 2023 campaign this Friday and Saturday by hosting the DoubleTree by Hilton YSU Invitational, presented by Mercy Health, at Beeghly Center. The Penguins will welcome Canisius, Belmont and Saint Francis to campus for a four-team tournament that will feature four matches on Friday and two more on Saturday. Each of the Penguins' matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, and the three matches in which YSU will not play will be streamed on the YSUsports YouTube Channel.

The Penguins will play the first match of the tournament against Canisius at 11 a.m. on Friday, and they'll play Belmont in the last match of the opening day at 7 p.m. Youngstown State will then close out the tournament against Saint Francis at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

This is the fourth time in head coach Aline Scott's six seasons that the Penguins will open the season by hosting a tournament. Last season at the DoubleTree Invitational, YSU went 2-1 with wins over Idaho and a Delaware State squad that went on to win 24 matches. Youngstown State also hosted in 2019 and went 3-0 on its way to the championship, and it hosted in 2021 while posting a 1-2 record. The 2018 season was Scott's first on campus, and the 2020 season was pushed to the spring of 2021 due to the pandemic. In the four season-opening tournaments in Beeghly Center since 2019, YSU holds a 6-3 record.

Returners Overview: Youngstown State returns nine players who appeared in at least 16 matches last season, including Second-Team All-Horizon League selection Josi Borum and Horizon League All-Freshman Team honoree Abbie Householder. Borum was a setter and right-side hitter in YSU's 6-2 offense who led the country in triple-doubles in 2022. Householder ranked third on the team in kills and digs last season as an outside hitter.

Coming Off Best Season Since 2014: The Penguins had their best season since 2014 last year by posting a 14-16 record and qualifying for the Horizon League Volleyball Championship for the first time in eight years. Youngstown State set a new school record with eight Horizon League wins, and those eight wins came in an 11-match stretch from Oct. 1 through Nov. 4.

Offensive Improvement in 2022: The Penguins had one of their best offenses in recent seasons in 2022 as they hit .216, which was their best attack percentage since 2014 and the second-best mark since 1999. Youngstown State averaged 12.48 kills per set, which was also its highest in eight seasons. YSU averaged 1.62 aces per set, which was its most for a season since the 2001 squad averaged 1.90 aces per set. The Penguins had their best attack percentage ever in Horizon League play by hitting .214, and their 12.86 kills per set in conference matches were the most by a Penguins team since 2012.

The Schedule Ahead: After this weekend, YSU will have just one more non-conference match on its home floor. The Penguins will play in tournaments hosted by Toledo and Florida Atlantic over the next two weeks, and they'll return home to host Akron on Sept. 14. The Horizon League opener will be on Sept. 19 against Northern Kentucky on Rosselli Court.

Captains: Josi Borum, Elise Moeller, Isabel Schaefbauer and Isidora Sisic will serve as team captains in 2023. Burm and Sisic are repeat captains from 2022. All four student-athletes are transfers from other Division I institutions. Borum and Sisic arrived from Chicago State, Moeller is from Evansville, and Schaefbauer came from Winthrop.

Hoping for Big Things in Year Two: The Penguins got a big boost from newcomers in 2022. In addition to Householder's accolades, Dayan Malave played in all but three sets and led the team with 85 total blocks, Julia Sell was strong in the second half of the season and averaged a team-best 0.88 blocks per set, and Isabel Schaefbauer led the team with 622 assists and 5.27 assists per set.

New Coaching Roles: There are two new assistant coaches on YSU's staff this season as Keith Lundgren and Kelly Kiger have joined the program. Additionally, Jesus Echevarria was promoted to the title of Associate Head Coach.

International Flavor: The YSU volleyball program is a melting pot of cultures with six countries being represented on the bench. Josi Borum, Kiyah Franklin, Michelle Fredrick, Abbie Householder, Maria Insana, Caitlyn Jones, Jocelyn Jourdan, Kiley Mitchell, Elise Moeller, Isabel Schaefbauer, Julia Sell and assistant coach Kelly Kiger are from the continental United States. Gabriela Machin, Dayan Malave and Associate Head Coach Jesus Echevarriahail from Puerto Rico. Additionally, Jazmin Vergara hails from Colombia, Isidora Sisic is from Serbia, Head Coach Aline Scott is from Brazil, and Assistant Coach Keith Lundgren is from Canada.

Canisius

Belmont

Saint Francis

08.26.23

08.25.23

08.22.23

08.21.23

08.18.23