YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Youngstown State University hit .350 for the match and upended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team with a 3-0 sweep Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.
 
"Youngtown State played a great match," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "They played really well – pretty low-error and very effective. They had a lot of success and positives and we were struggling to counter what they were doing. We did not play well as a group."
 
The Penguins (13-8, 4-2 Horizon League) attack percentage on the day marked their best-ever in a Horizon League match, sending the Panthers (9-8, 4-1 Horizon League) to their first conference loss of the season by scores of 25-19, 26-24, 29-27.
 
"We need more than a few players to be playing well," Johnson said. "It was a tough one today, but we will be back at it on Tuesday."
 
Senior Julie Kolinske paced UWM with 18 kills on a .361 hitting percentage. Junior Maggie Dunbar hit .375 and tied her career-high with 17 kills. Junior Kayla Price led the Panthers with 38 assists and senior Taylor Golabowski was tops with 12 digs.
 
The first set featured nine ties and three lead changes to set the tone for the day. But YSU hit .484 and pulled away in the second half of the set.
 
The second was more of the same, with eight ties and three lead changes, but UWM could never get over the hump despite coming close down the stretch.
 
Milwaukee led for most of the third set and seemed intent on extending the match when it took a 24-21 lead on a Kolinske kill. But, the Penguins came up big time and time again, extending the set past 25 in claiming the 29-27 victory.
 
Up next, the Panthers start a three-game homestand this week with a non-league match against Western Michigan Tuesday. Start time is set for 7 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.