Butler def. Youngstown State 21-25, 31-29, 25-22, 25-15

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Senior Maureen Bamiro had 11 kills and six blocks and freshman Kelly Kyle had 14 kills and seven digs as the Butler volleyball team defeated Youngstown State, 3-1, Friday evening. BU has now won four consecutive matches.

Freshman Brooke Ruffolo added 19 digs and Butler had 14.0 team blocks as the Bulldogs held the Penguins to .092 hitting. Sophomore Maggie Harbison and freshman Belle Obert each had five blocks and junior Gina Vera had 11 digs to go with her 43 assists. The difference in the match was defense, with Butler forcing BU into 39 attack errors.

"We had some aggressive net plays and our outside hitters put the ball away," head coach Sharon Clark said.

Youngstown State (2-19, 1-8) actually won the first set and had ample opportunity to take the second and take control of the match, but Butler held and would get stronger as the match went on. Butler would dominate the fourth set to clinch the 3-1 win.

In the first set, BU led 13-9 but YSU answered with four straight points to tie the set 13-13. At 18-18, Youngstown State got a kill and a block to lead 20-18. Butler was within 21-19 when Youngstown State got three of the next four points to set up 24-20 match point. The Penguins would finish the set 25-21, clinching on a kill by Missy Hundelt.

"YSU played extremely well and they were hot to start the match," Clark said.

Butler would fall behind 7-1 in the second set, setting up a scenario where Youngstown State could take control of the match. With BU trailing 14-11, Youngstown State got the next three points to extend the advantage to 17-11. Soon, Youngstown State had the first of its three set points at 24-22. Youngstown State then committed two attack errors to tie the set 24-24. A kill by freshman Stephanie Kranda gave Butler set point at 25-24. YSU had set point again at 27-26 but Butler stayed strong and would rally to tie the set 29-29. Two errors by YSU cost them the set, as Butler got the next two points to win 31-29 and tie the match 1-1.

Butler controlled the third set, leading 17-10 and holding off a late rally for a 25-22 win. The key stretch in that set was a 10-3 run early that gave BU a 17-10 lead. The Bulldogs then took down the Penguins in a rout in the fourth. Serving by Kyle and Harbison got Butler out to a sizable lead and they cruised the rest of the way to finish the evening. 

Butler (9-12, 5-4) will finish the weekend Saturday, Oct. 15 at Cleveland State. The match at CSU's Woodling Gym will begin at 4 p.m. ET.