Offense Cools Late as Penguins Falter at Butler in Five Sets

     Indianapolis -- Youngstown State let a two-sets-to-one lead escape and dropped its second straight five-set match Friday evening against Butler.
     The Penguins won both the second and third set 26-24 before going cold on the attack. YSU was held to  .025 attack percentage in the fourth set and a -.120 in the final set.
     Ruth Boscaljon had 14 kills but was forced into a season-high eight errors, including four in the final set as YSU committed eight as a team. Kaitlin O'Hara added 13 kills, and Laurie Shives had a team-high 27 digs.
     Three players posted 18 kills for Butler, including Jessica Wolfe and Porshia Allen in double-double efforts. Kelsey Labrum also registered 18 kills and hit a team-best .314.
     The Bulldogs and Penguins ranked first and second in the Horizon League in blocks entering the match, but Butler recorded the only block of the first set in its 25-20 win. O'Hara and Boscaljon each had five kills without an error as the Penguins hit a match-best .257. Butler countered with a .395 clip and got six kills from Allen.
     The Penguins battled through 14 ties and five lead changes to win the second set 26-24. YSU hit just .128 but blocked six attacks in forcing Butler to commit 18 errors. Haley Kapferer had four of her match-high eight stops in the set while Karla Everhart and Tasha Reid had three apiece.
     Kapferer blocked the final two attacks in the third set as YSU led by five three different times before Butler tied the score at 24-24.
     Butler jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never trailed in the fourth set when it hit .297 and had 3.5 blocks en route to a 25-16 win. YSU cut the margin to three five times, including 17-14, before Butler pulled away.
     The Bulldogs scored the first six points of the tiebreaker and never let the Penguins get closer than 6-2 before winning 15-8.