Brandywine Storms Into PSUAC Title Game With Dramatic Fifth-Set Rally

MEDIA, Pennsylvania -- Second-seeded Penn State Brandywine roared back from seven points down during the fifth set by closing out the frame with a 9-0 run, capped off by junior Nicole Costa's (Lansdowne, Pa./Upper Darby) kill, as the Lions knocked off No. 3 seed Penn State Mont Alto 3-2, advancing to the PSUAC Volleyball Tournament championship match in dramatic fashion on Friday night.

Brandywine moved into the title match for the second consecutive year and will face top-seeded Penn State Fayette, the seven-time defending league champions, with an automatic bid to the USCAA Tournament on the line Sunday at 1:00 pm at Rec Hall in University Park.

Costa's kill was her 14th of the night, matching her with junior Kirsten Jerla (Springfield, Pa./Notre Dame) and freshman Nicole Poissant (Aston, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) for the team lead.

Brandywine trailed 14-7 during the fifth set before it started a rally, beginning with a kill from junior Miranda Biondi (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown). Following back-to-back kills from Costa and Jerla that forced a Mont Alto timeout, the duo of Costa and Jerla combined for two more points, tying the set, 14-14. A ball-handling error gave Brandywine the lead and Costa sent the Lions into the title match with a final, emphatic smash.

Brandywine opened the evening with a 25-20, first-set triumph, but Mont Alto rallied to tie the match 1-1 by claiming set No. 2, 25-23. The Lions scored the final nine points of the third frame, rolling to a 25-10 win, before Mont Alto forced a deciding set with a 25-23 triumph in the fourth.

Brandywine received a triple-double from Poissant as she tallied 28 assists and 15 digs in addition to her 14 kills, while Jerla tallied 15 digs, producing a double-double. Poissant hit an astounding .636 during the match and Brandywine hit .262 as a team.

Biondi dished out 25 assists and registered nine digs, while junior Molly Nichols (Lenni, Pa./Penncrest) and freshman Melanie Kempf (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) each added eight kills.

Junior Kimberly Russo (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) paced the team defensively with 18 digs, while classmate Kelsi Wiest (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) added 15, along with five kills. Costa led all players with four blocks (three solo).  

Mont Alto, which closed out its season with a record of 18-8, was led by Melissa Orlandini, who tallied a match-best 18 kills, and Katie Graham, who collected nine kills and 23 digs.