A losing streak that began on Sept. 20 at the Flyer Classic in Dayton continued Saturday afternoon in the C.J. McLin Gym as Wright State lost its seventh straight match, this time in straight sets to Youngstown State, 25-14, 25-23 and 25-14.
The Penguins jumped out to commanding leads in the first and third sets, eventually winning both sets by double-digits. The Raiders rallied in the second set, but eventually faltered during the decisive points.
High fives: Middle blocker Ashley Langjahr (7) tries to spike a shot past the Penguins’ Aly Ryan (6) and Nichele Johnson (12) during Youngstown’s 3-0 over Wright State on Saturday.
Following the loss, head coach Susan Clements pointed to the Raiders’ inexperience that caused their slow start.
“With youth and when you’ve never played against a team that you’re playing, it just takes time to get into a rhythm. We didn’t come out to a good start and sometimes you have a hard time fighting back,” Clements said. “In the second set, we got out to a little bit of a flow and started out better, and that’s just going to get easier as we build the program.”
Clements said her team was slow to react defensively, which was due in part to a lineup change that was installed for the weekend’s matches.
The Raiders (0-4, 6-15) have now lost six of the past seven matches in straight sets.
“Right now we are going through a lot of adversity. We have to work with our new setter and passers more. It’s more of mental , I think, than anything else,” middle blocker Haley Garr said. “We have the talent to achieve [wins], we just need to focus.”
Freshman Miranda Puthoff took on the role of setter for the matches against Cleveland State and YSU on Friday and Saturday in place of fellow freshman Emily Meng.
WSU continues its four-game
Friday against Oakland at 7 p.m.
