YSUsports.com - Volleyball: Guins Return Home, Hoping for Separation in Standings

Oct. 28, 2009

Guins Return Home, Hoping for Separation in Standings

Youngstown -- The Youngstown State volleyball team returns home for the first time in three weeks to host Green Bay and Milwaukee this weekend at the Beeghly Center.

The Penguins will entertain Green Bay on Friday at 7 p.m. and Milwaukee on Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of the homecoming festivities on campus.

Sophomore defensive specialist Brittany McNeal had a career-high 24 digs at Green Bay earlier this year.

Both matches will have major implications on seeding in the Horizon League Tournament. With two wins, the Penguins will put themselves in a very good position to finish among the top six in the league standings and earn a spot in the tournament. YSU enters the weekend in sixth place with a 5-7 league mark, which is one-half game behind fifth-place Milwaukee and 1.5 games ahead of Green Bay and Loyola in seventh. YSU swept Milwaukee earlier this season and lost in four sets at Green Bay.

The two matches this weekend will be the final two Horizon League contests played at the Beeghly Center this season. YSU will host nearby rival Akron on Nov. 3 and West Virginia on Nov. 8. The Penguins will close out the season at Cleveland State on Nov. 13 and at Wright State on Nov. 14. With Cleveland State in the driver’s seat to host the Horizon League Tournament starting Nov. 19, YSU could play every one of its remaining matches through the tournament in Ohio.

Since a rough start to the season in which the Penguins worked to find their identity, they have gone 5-5 over the past month. YSU needs just one more win to finish with the most Horizon League victories in school history. The Guins finished 5-11 in 2007 to place seventh in the standings.

Ruth Boscaljon continues to have a memorable senior year. The Elgin, Ill., native ranks 25th in the country and leads the Horizon League with 1.33 blocks per set. She also ranks second in the Horizon League in points per set (4.42), third in hitting percentage (.333) and fifth in kills per set (3.33). She ranks third in Youngstown State history in kills with 1,268, and she needs just four more blocks to move into second place in school history. If she can add 26 blocks to her current 474 career total, she will be only the second player in school history to finish with at least 1,000 kills and 500 blocks.

YSU will have an off week in the Horizon League schedule next week but will have two non-conference home matches. The Penguins will welcome Akron to the Beeghly Center for the first time since 1996 on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. YSU will then play host to West Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m.