Brandywine Dethrones Fayette Through 3-1 Battle in PSUAC Championship

State College, Pa. - Despite dropping their first match in 12 games, the Penn State Brandywine Lions have dethroned seven-time Penn State University Athletic Conference champions, Penn State Fayette, Sunday, by a tally of 3-1, earning their first PSUAC Championship title in program history.

This season marks the third in which the title came down to the two teams. The match went into four sets as Brandywine took set one, three and four by tallies of 25-19, 25-14 and 25-14 while Fayette took set two by a margin of 25-22.

With the championship title, the Lions alongside PSUAC Coach of the Year Melissa Algeo has earned the conference's automatic bid to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship for the first time. The ladies are set to travel to Canton, N.Y., on November 4th.

Fayette and Brandywine both battled through the first set before they tied at nine, leading into a Nichols 5-0 run.  Halee Kusner and Kirsten Jerla pushed the Lions' lead to nine with back-to-back kills while Molly Nichols closed out the first set for Brandywine.

Fayette came out hot in the second set, stretching their lead to five with efforts from Druianna Ford and four other Roaring Lions. Brandywine flexed to a 20-19 trail before Fayette answered with six of the next nine points to close the set. With Fayette's 25-22 answer, Brandywine dropped their first set in over a month, which marked the first time Brandywine did not sweep a PSUAC opponent this season.

Both eager for the title, Fayette and Brandywine battled the third set to tie at eight before Brandywine exploded with a 20-8 lead. Nikki Poissant ignited a 12-point run for Brandywine, where she landed 13 consecutive serves, dropping in a pair of aces, while Nichols aided in the effort with two kills. The swelter was too much to handle, as Brandywine took the game to 2-1.

Eager to even the tally, Fayette notched a 7-2 lead in the next set as Brandywine upended the gap, 9-7. From there, Poissant placed a trio of kills while Nicole Costa and Miranda Biondi united for a block to set off the Brandywine celebration.

Biondi put up a game-high of 36 assists while getting down for 15 digs. Kim Russo got down for 21 digs while Poissant posted 13 digs, nine kills, two service aces and a block through the championship game. Kelsi Wiest contributed 13 digs as Molly Nichols earned 12 kills, four digs and three blocks.

Fayette's Tyler Peebles dished out 32 assists and 12 digs while Ford assisted with 21 digs and six kills. Whitney Ptak hammered ten kills for Fayette as Emma Lewis added seven kills, 14 digs, two service aces and two blocks.

Brandywine is now on a 14-game win streak as they look forward to the United States Collegiate Athletic Conference National Championship. The selection show will be aired HERE, Wednesday at 2 p.m.