The Butler women's volleyball team opened up the second weekend of the season with a win over Youngstown State in Game 1 of the Chippewa Invitational. The Bulldogs (2-2) won 3-1 over the Penguins (1-3), taking every set except for a closely contested third.

Set 1: Butler 25-16
Butler got out to a 10-5 lead thanks to early kills from Madison Friebel, Mariah Grunze, Funmi Oladapo and Melody Davidson. An ace from Caroline Cleveland combined with a pair of kills from Grunze and Davidson expanded the Bulldog lead to 16-9 later in the set. Youngstown State rallied back to cut the lead down to two at 17-15 and then 18-16, but would get no closer as Butler scored the final seven points of the set on Hannah Kelly's serve, where she nailed two aces including one to clinch the set.
 
Set 2: Butler 25-20
After dropping the first point of the set, the Bulldogs came back to take a 6-2 lead. Oladapo recorded two kills in the early run as part of her breakout game. Youngstown State tied it back up at 7-7 and the score stayed close until Butler made a run after the set was tied at 11. In her first match of the season, Brittany Robinson punctuated the streak with a kill to give the Bulldogs a 16-12 lead. Melody Davidson led the way from there, picking up four kills to close out the set.
 
Set 3: Youngstown State 25-22
Kills by Grunze, Robinson and Friebel got the Bulldogs out to a quick 3-0 lead, but the Penguins answered with a 6-0 run to take a three-point lead. Butler rallied back and Davidson hit back-to-back kills to take a 9-8 lead. Youngstown State then went on another 6-0 run to regain the lead, but the Bulldogs fought back to tie the set at 16 with a nice 5-0 run of their own. The Penguins then took a 19-16 lead which they wouldn't relinquish. Butler got within one once at 21-20 but couldn't complete the comeback.
 
Set 4: Butler 25-20
Back-to-back kills by Robinson followed by one from Davidson got the Bulldogs out to another 3-0 lead. Davidson later recorded the kill on three consecutive Butler points to make the score 14-10, and then Amina Shackelford recorded back-to-back kills of her own, and Grunze hit an ace to give the Bulldogs a 17-11 lead. Butler cruised from there with Shackelford hitting another set of back-to-back kills to clinch the match.
 
Stat of the Match:
Jaymeson Kinley collected 31 digs against the Penguins, which will increase her digs per set average that was already among the BIG EAST and national leaders coming into the match (5.27).

Inside the Box Score:
Davidson recorded a cool .405 attack percentage with 17 kills and two errors on 37 swings.
Friebel had 41 assists and 11 digs for another double-double.
Grunze posted 12 kills and eight digs.
Robinson put up nine kills and 10 digs in her first game of the season.
Oladapo set a new career-high in kills with seven on 13 attempts and added two block assists.
 
Up Next:
Butler will face the host Central Michigan Chippewas at 7:30 p.m. on Friday for their second game of the invitational before a matchup with North Dakota at noon on Saturday.