May 1, 2008
Athletics: Tom Zetts, Jessica Fraley Named YSU Athletes of the Year
    Youngstown -- Senior football player Tom Zetts and senior volleyball player Jessica Fraley were named the 2007-08 YSU Vindicator Scholar-Athletes of the Year on Thursday night at the Annual Scholar-Athlete Banquet. At the event a group of more than 150 student-athletes were honored for posting a cumulative grade-point average above 3.0.
    Zetts, a quarterback from Boardman, finished a brilliant career as the Youngstown State football team’s career record holder in passing yards, completions, attempts, completion percentage, touchdowns and games started. Excelling off the field as well, he was also a three-team First-Team Academic All-Gateway selection and a three-time FCS Academic All-Star.
    For his career he had 654 completions, 1,094 attempts, 7,643 yards, 51 touchdowns and a 59.8 completion percentage while starting 47 games. His final three years he posted an impressive 26-10 record as a starter while guiding the Penguins to Gateway Conference championships in 2005 and 2006.
    His rushing numbers improved dramatically from his first two years to his final two campaigns. In his final two seasons he rushed for 547 yards on 139 carries and scored five touchdowns. For his career he had 536 yards rushing on 233 attempts while scoring six times.
    As a senior, Zetts was named a second-team all-conference selection, earned First-Team Academic All-GFC laurels, was tabbed Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-District while being named an FCS Academic All-Star and a member of the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society.
    For the year, he completed 173-of-277 passes for 1,845 yards and seven touchdowns. He set a school record with his 62.7 completion percentage. He also had 213 yards rushing on 57 attempts and a touchdown.
    Fraley’s persistence paid off in a big way during her senior season. After battling through injuries as a sophomore and a junior, Fraley, a right-side hitter from LaGrange, Ohio, became just the second Penguin to earn First-Team All-Horizon League honors in 2007 by posting an impressive campaign.
    She had 427 kills in 2007, the fourth most in a campaign in school history and the third-highest total in the Horizon League for the year. She tallied 316 digs, 79 blocks, 31 assists and 22 service aces for the Penguins. Fraley averaged 3.50 kills and 2.59 digs per game. She also had 1,176 total attempts, the third most in a single season in school history. Fraley had double figures in kills 25 times and double figures in digs on 20 occasions. The Guins won 12 matches for the first time since 2000 and won five league matches, one more than they had won in the previous six seasons combined.
    For her on-court efforts she was named to the league’s first-team all-conference squad. Off the court, she was a First-Team Academic All-Horizon League selection and a third-team CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. She is just the second YSU volleyball player since 2001 to earn academic all-district laurels. Fraley was also named the team’s most valuable player for her efforts last season.
    Also at the banquet, student-athletes with a cumulative 3.0 grade-point average were recognized. The women's golf and men's cross country team's received the Horizon League "Raise Your Sights" Award while the track and field program was the recipient of the Team Community Outreach Award and the volleyball program received the Sportsmanship Award.
    Earning Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Leadership Awards were women's tennis player Michelle Fuleky and football player James Terry.