LORETTO, Pa. - Lafayette collected its first win of the 2025 season on Friday afternoon in a 3-2 victory over Youngstown State. Sophomore Auma Mbeche-Odhiambo registered a new career high of 18 kills, while head coach CJ Werneke secured  his first win at the helm for the Leopards.

The Maroon and White took the first two sets in commanding fashion (25-21, 25-20). In the first set, Youngstown State captured an early lead before back-to-back services aces from Sophia Wilson capped off a 6-1 spurt for the Leopards (7-4). Lafayette traded points until a five-point run created breathing room, with a trio of Ally Feczko kills highlighting the stretch. The Penguins countered with a five-point lead shortly after to cut the lead to 18-16). The Leopards remained patient, relying on five errors from the opponent to take the first set.

Set two began similarly to the first, with Lafayette and Youngstown State dueling. A service error began a string of six consecutive points to swing a 10-5 advantage to the Maroon and White, with kills from Feczko and Hannah Ehrich-Pollock in the midst of the run. The Leopards commanded the set, holding the lead until the 25th point. After dropping the first two sets, Youngstown State clawed its way back, winning the third and fourth sets to force a fifth and final to decide the winner.

The fifth set started with one of Mbeche-Odhiambo's 18 match kills. The Penguins took the a 3-1 lead over the next three points. Immediately following, Abby Nicholson and Mbeche-Odhiambo each tallied a kill to knot things up. Lafayette and Youngstown State battled back and forth, with neither team separating from the other. Just as before in the first set, the Maroon and White remained patient, taking advantage of mistakes to turn the tide. With the score 6-4 in favor of Youngstown State, the next four points saw two errors and two kills from freshman Jada Aksu for an 8-6 Leopard lead. The opponents proceeded to tie the contest twice in the final stretch, with the second tie knotting things up at 9-9. Lafayette put things away over the next six points, securing a 15-9 victory.

Mbeche-Odhiambo paced the way for Lafayette in kills, Feczko (11) and Nicholson (8) following. Wilson and Mackenzie Calhoun collected 28 and 27 assists, respectively. 

The Leopards retake the court on a Saturday doubleheader, playing Siena at 2 p.m. before facing off against Saint Francis at 7 p.m.


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