Brandywine Wins Two On First Day Of Dig Pink

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine swept Penn State Greater Allegheny 3-0 and, after dropping the first set to Penn State Beaver, rallied to win three-straight frames to pick up its second victory of the afternoon by a 3-1 score during the first day of the team'a annual Dig Pink quad matches on Saturday.

The Lions (11-2, 5-0 PSUAC) led wire-to-wire against Greater Allegheny, winning by scores of 25-12, 25-8, 25-12.

Nicolette Napoleon (Springfield, Pa./Penn Charter) led the offensive attack with nine kills and two aces, while Nikki Poissant (Aston, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) added seven kills along with three service aces. Becca Civera (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) topped all players by recording 16 digs and Napoleon tallied seven digs. Sullivan Stark (Middletown, Del./William Penn) dished out 20 assists, while Rikelle Taylor (Nottingham, Pa./Solanco) and Hannah Sarafinas (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) both collected a pair of blocks.

Brandywine faced a much stiffer test against Beaver during its second match of the afternoon.

The Lions established the biggest lead of the first frame by either team at 10-7, but Beaver battled back tie the score at 10-10. The teams traded points throughout the remainder of the set with Brandywine having to stave off two set points before Imani Hargrove and Brooke Tomasko recorded back-to-back kills to lift Beaver to a 27-25 triumph in the opener.

Brandywine evened the match at 1-1 after taking the second set 25-16. The Lions pulled away, using a pair of kills and an ace from Poissant during a 6-0 run that gave Brandywine an eight-point cushion, and scored eight of the final nine points of the frame to tie the score.

Beaver took a 7-1 lead during set No. 3, but Brandywine battled back, tying the score at 11-11 on a kill by Sarafinas. The Lions took the lead for the first time with an ace from Sarafinas and pushed the margin as large as five points at 22-17 following a kill from Taylor. Beaver pulled to within three before two kills by Lauren Kelly (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) and a Civera ace gave Brandywine the set, 25-19.

The Lions trailed 18-15 during the final stanza; however, they collected six of the next seven points with Poissant capping the surge with a kill to grab a 21-19 edge. Beaver rallied to tie the score 21-21, but kills by Poissant and Civera helped Brandywine retake the lead and Sarafinas closed out the match with a block, her team-high fourth of the match.

Civera set a career high with 29 digs, while Poissant tallied 18, Napoleon collected 11 and Kelly added 10. Taylor recorded three more blocks and Stark added two, along with 35 assists and seven digs.

Civera also posted seven of Brandywine's 15 aces, while Poissant led the team in kills with 16 and Taylor contributed 10.

Brandywine will close out Dig Pink Weekend on Sunday afternoon beginning with a showdown against Penn State Fayette at noon. Brandywine and Fayette have combined to win the last nine conference titles and are the only two squads that remain without a conference loss this season.