PITTSBURGH, PA The UNC Greensboro volleyball team suffered their second consecutive road defeat with a 3-1 loss to Youngstown State in the first round of the Marriott by Courtyard Invitational hosted by Duquesne on Friday evening.
Sophomore Branagan Fuller led UNCG (4-2) with 16 kills and 11 digs while classmate Catherine Hanners tallied a match-high 20 digs. Katherine Hart also tallied eight kills in the loss.
Sophomore Lisa Fawell dished out 32 kills for her second consecutive game of 20 or more assists while Kimiko Naito added 11 assists.
Jessica Fraley led Youngstown State (5-0) with 14 kills on only four errors. The Penguins had four players with double-digit digs led by Abigail Drost who tallied 15. Karla Everhart dished out a match-high 35 assists.
The Spartans got off to a slow start at the beginning of game one allowing the Penguins to jump out to an early 4-1 lead, but were able to battle back to tie the game at 11. The score went back-and-forth from that point but YSU was able to take a 26-22 lead and closed the game on a 4-0 run to take game one 30-22.
Game two was close from the outset and UNCG was able to keep the score within two points in the early goings but Youngstown State capitalized on several Spartan miscues to run out to a 20-16 lead and never looked back, taking game two by a score of 30-23.
The Penguins took a commanding 2-0 lead heading into the intermission but it was UNCG that struck in the next game. The game was close in the opening minutes and featured several lead changes but the Spartans used a 4-2 run midway through the game to pull ahead and took game three, 30-25.
Youngstown State jumped out to a 4-1 lead in game four and never trailed winning the game 30-16 and the match.
The Spartans continue action at the Marriott by Courtyard Invitational on Saturday. UNCG takes on host Duquesne at 11 am and conclude tournament action at 4 pm against Bucknell.
AGATE:
YSU def. UNCG 30-22,30-23,25-30,30-16
YSU (5-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - FRALEY, Jessica 14-0-1; BOSCALJON, Ruth 8-0-3; BARBOSA, Ebony 7-0-2; DROST, Abigail 6-2-0; EVERHART,Karla 5-2-2; HEINZ, Allison 5-0-3; O'HARA, Kaitlin 2-0-1; KAPFERER,Haley 1-0-0; Totals 48-4-8.0. (Assists) - EVERHART, Karla 35. (Dig leaders) - DROST, Abigail 15; FRALEY, Jessica 13
UNCG (4-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Branagan Fuller 16-0-0; Katherine Hart 8-0-0; Lauren Keiser 4-0-0; Emily Lindborg 4-1-1; Caley Redden 4-0-2; Catherine Hanners 3-1-0; Kaitlyn Nortz 3-0-2; Kayren Finney 3-0-3; Billi Baker 1-0-0; Lisa Fawell 1-1-1; Kimiko Naito 0-1-0; Kayleigh Knerr 0-2-0; Totals 47-6-6.0. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 32; Kimiko Naito 11. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 20; Kayleigh Knerr 12; Branagan Fuller 11
- UNCG -
