Brandywine Wins Three On Dig Pink Day

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine won a trio of Penn State University Athletic Conference volleyball matches on Dig Pink Day as the Lions bested Penn State Lehigh Valley, Penn State Schuylkill and Penn State Wilkes-Barre to move into first place in the PSUAC East Division.

Penn State Brandywine 3, Penn State Lehigh Valley 0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-20)

The first match of the day featured a matchup of Brandywine and Lehigh Valley with Brandywine claiming a straight-set victory to sweep the season series.

The Lions collected five-straight points, the final two of which came on kills by Brandi James (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) and Hope Coacher (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) to build a 20-13 lead and finished off the first set with back-to-back kills by Kira Thorne (Alconbury, England/Alconbury) and Amanda Floyd (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro).

Brandywine used a 7-0 surge to close out the second set 25-16 and build a 2-0 lead. Rikelle Taylor (Nottingham, Pa./Solanco) recorded four blocks during a 10-2 spurt to open the third set and added a fifth block later in the frame as Brandywine held off a late Lehigh Valley rally to close out the match in three sets.

Taylor added five kills to her five solo blocks, while James recorded eight kills and 12 digs. Gianna Anthony (Newtown Square, Pa./Sacred Heart Academy) paced all players with 16 digs and Thorne added 12 digs and five kills.

Penn State Brandywine 3, Penn State Schuylkill 2 (21-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11)

Brandywine had to rally from 2-1 down to defeat Schuylkill, sending the visitors to their first PSUAC loss of the season.

The teams were knotted 10-10 during the final set, but two Schuylkill errors and a kill by Floyd made the margin 13-10. Schuylkill got within two; however, a pair of errors gave the match to Brandywine.

After splitting the first two sets, Brandywine led the third 20-16 before Schuylkill rallied with nine-straight points to claim the frame.

Brandywine led for nearly the entire fourth set, moving in front by as many as six points at 20-14 following a kill by Hannah Sarafinas (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West). Schuylkill pulled as close as 22-20, but James tallied a pair of kills and Coacher added a kill to secure the stanza and send the match to a deciding fifth set.

Coacher and Sarafinas both recorded 13 kills, leading five players in double figures for Brandywine. Taylor added 12 kills, while James totaled 11 and Floyd registered 10.

Rebecca Gonzalez (Clearwater, Fla./Washburn Academy) dealt out 36 assists, while Madison Swenson (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) dished out 18. James tallied three of Brandywine's nine aces.

Defensively, Anthony produced 22 digs, while James collected 20 and Thorne recorded 10. Sarafinas collected four blocks and Taylor and Thorne both added three.

Penn State Brandywine 3, Penn State Wilkes-Barre 0 (25-8, 25-5, 25-9)

Brandywine eased to a three-set victory over Wilkes-Barre during the final match of the afternoon.

Twenty-seven of the Lions' points came from services aces. Melina Asslanian (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) set down 10, while Gonzalez tallied eight, along with 11 assists, and Alsatia Haas-Tome (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) produced five.

Sarafinas led all players with six kills and Coacher and Asslanian both tallied five. Asslanian paced the Lions with three digs.

Brandywine (9-12, 8-1) closes out its six-game homestand Wednesday night against Penn State Scranton at 7:00 pm.