Akron's Brionna Patterson had a match-high 15 kills to counter five different Youngstown State players with at least eight kills as the Zips won in three sets on Tuesday at the Beeghly Center.
Patterson hit .355, and Liz Martin had 14 kills and hit .480 to lead Akron to a .258 clip as a team. Akron won the first two sets by two points apiece—29-27 and 25-23—and the third 25-20.
Ruth Boscaljon, Kaitlin O'Hara and Brittany Grove had nine kills each for YSU, and Tasha Reid and Haley Kapferer had eight apiece. Kapferer's .444 attack percentage was a team-best, and Reid hit .350. Kapferer added a match-high five blocks.
YSU libero Laurie Shives had 18 digs while Akron libero Chelseas Harvey equaled that.
The Penguins had the lead at least once in every set, and the match featured 22 ties and 11 lead changes.
The Guins led by as many as three in the first set, and a late rally gave them a chance at three set points. Akron led 23-21 when back-to-back kills by Reid and a Shives ace put YSU ahead 24-23. Shives then served long on YSU's first set point, Liz Martin's kill nulled the second, and O'Hara was long on an attack on the third. Another Martin kills gave the Zips the 29-27 win despite YSU having five more kills in the set.
YSU jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second set before Akron went on a 9-2 run to get within 12-10. The Penguins led by four five times, but Akron scored five straight points to take its first lead when YSU was ahead 18-14. YSU tied the score twice, including at 23-23, when a Patterson kill and an O'Hara error gave Akron the 25-23 victory.
The Penguins had to play catch-up in the third set after falling behind 8-4, but they went on a 10-3 bulge to take a 14-11 lead. YSU led 19-17 on a Kapferer kill, but Akron scored the next seven points on five straight kills and two errors to go ahead 24-19. Patterson had three of those kills in succession.
YSU will welcome West Virginia to the Beeghly Center on Sunday at 2 p.m. Boscaljon, O'Hara, Allison Heinz and Dana Leslie will be honored prior to the match in the annual senior day festivities.
Courtesy: Youngstown State University
