SPORTS DIGEST || YSU volleyball team defeats Toledo

YSU volleyball team defeats Toledo

TOLEDO

Sarah Varcolla finished with 20 kills, and the Youngstown State volleyball team outlasted Toledo for a five-set victory on Saturday to close out the Penguins’ non-conference schedule. The set scores were 23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 14-25, 16-14.

Varcolla’s 20 kills came on 48 attempts, and she finished the weekend averaging 3.09 kills per set on a .325 attack percentage and 1.18 blocks per set. The junior was YSU’s representative on the all-tournament team as she led the Penguins to a 2-1 showing at the Blue/Gold Invitational.

Margaux Thompson was strong with 14 kills on a .308 attack percentage while adding 21 digs, and Erin Kalahar contributed a career-high 11 kills. Kalahar, Varcolla and Libbie Darling each had two aces, and YSU finished with nine as a team. Lauren Blanco paced the defense with 23 digs.

Annie Beasley led Toledo with 16 kills on a .406 attack percentage.

After the Rockets held on to win the first set 25-23, Youngstown State led for the entirety of the second set to even the match on a 25-18 win. Thompson and Varcolla combined for 13 kills in the set, and the Penguins registered 18 kills collectively and were successful on 83 percent of its sideout attempts. Youngstown State then had five aces in a 25-20 win in the third to go up 2-1 in the match.

Dohar, Mang to speak to Curbstone Coaches

BEAVER TOWNSHIP

Damon Dohar, Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference president, and John Mang, the league’s commissioner and assigner, will be the guest speakers at Monday’s luncheon meeting of The Curbstone Coaches at The Avion Banquet Center.

The event begins at noon and the public is welcome to attend.

Boardman Community Baseball meeting set

BOARDMAN

Boardman Community Baseball will hold its annual meeting on Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Fields of Dreams.

Election of board members and officers will be held.

Anyone interested in becoming a board member or officer should email info@boardmanbaseball.com or call 330-758-2123.

NFL files appeal for Elliott suspension

The NFL filed an emergency motion in federal appeals court Friday, hoping to get a swift ruling on its request to overrule a judge who blocked a six-game suspension for star Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott in a domestic violence case in Ohio.

The league filed its request with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, even though a federal judge in Texas hasn’t ruled on a request to put the injunction on hold while an appeal is pursued. The emergency motion asks the court to rule on the request to suspend U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant’s injunction as early as Tuesday, the start of the practice week before the Cowboys’ third game of the season against Arizona.

If the ruling isn’t made by Tuesday, the NFL is asking for a decision by Sept. 26, the start of practice before Dallas’ Week 4 home game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Elliott had already been cleared to play in a 19-3 win over the New York Giants in the season opener before Mazzant granted his request for an injunction. Last year’s NFL rushing leader will play today at Denver under Mazzant’s ruling.

The 22-year-old Elliott was suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell in August after the league concluded following a yearlong investigation that he had several physical confrontations last summer in Ohio with his girlfriend at the time. The NFL players’ union sued on Elliott’s behalf.

In its emergency motion, the NFL reiterated previous arguments that Elliott’s attorneys sued prematurely because arbitrator Harold Henderson had yet to rule on the running back’s appeal of the suspension. The appeal was denied the same day as arguments over the request for an injunction from Mazzant in Sherman, Texas, about 65 miles north of Dallas.

Staff/wire