Brandywine Sweeps Major Awards; Four Earn All-Conference Recognition
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In addition to claiming the PSUAC volleyball championship, six individuals from the Penn State Brandywine volleyball team took home hardware during the conference's end-of-year awards, including sweeping the coach, player and newcomer of the year honors. Head Coach Melissa Algeo was named PSUAC Coach of the Year, while senior setter Miranda Biondi (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown) was selected as PSUAC Player of the Year and freshman Halee Kusner (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) earned the PSUAC Newcomer of the Year award.
Joining Biondi on the All-PSUAC First Team were senior Nicole Costa (Lansdowne, Pa./Upper Darby) and sophomore Nikki Poissant (Aston, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), while senior Kim Russo (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) claimed second team recognition.
Biondi earned billing as the top player in the conference after leading the league and placing eighth nationally in assists per set (7.82) and finishing third in the PSUAC with 524 total assists. Now a four-time, first team all-conference performer, Biondi totaled 65 assists and 31 digs in two conference tournament games, helping Brandywine clinch its first-ever PSUAC volleyball championship on Sunday.
A five-time PSUAC Setter of the Week and two-time USCAA Setter of the Week this season, Biondi also recorded 116 digs and 10 blocks in 23 matches. In addition to being Brandywine's all-time leader in assists with 2,101, Biondi is the current active leader in aces (322) among players at all levels of the USCAA, NCAA and NAIA.
Costa received first team accolades for the third consecutive year. She stands third in the conference with 33 solo blocks and fourth in total blocks (48), while her 124 kills placed her 11th in the league. Costa delivered nine kills and combined with Kusner on a block that gave Brandywine its championship point during the Lions' title victory over Fayette.
During her 97-match career, Costa has averaged nearly two kills per set and collected 198 blocks.
Poissant earned her second all-league selection in two years after being tabbed to the second team as a freshman. As one of the top all-around players in the PSUAC, Poissant finished in the top eight in kills (152 - 7th), aces (53 - 6th) and digs (159 - 8th), the only player in the conference to accomplish the feat. She totaled over 10 kills five times during the season, while reaching double figures in digs on six occasions.
In two years at Brandywine, Poissant has collected over 300 kills, assists and digs.
Russo, the team's leader in digs, earned all-conference recognition for the fourth consecutive season. In 23 matches, Russo tallied 228 digs, the fourth-highest total in the conference, including 44 during Brandywine's run to the PSUAC championship last weekend. She also ranks seventh with 52 aces.
Earlier in the season, Russo became Brandywine's first player with 1,000 career digs. She has amassed 1,045 in 97 matches during the last four years.
Kusner played every set of every match during her freshman campaign. She led the team and all PSUAC rookies with 165 kills, finishing fifth in the league overall, while adding 23 blocks. Kusner came on strong at the end of the season, averaging nearly 10 kills per match during the Lions' final eight games, all Brandywine victories.
Algeo, now a two-time PSUAC Coach of the Year, guided Brandywine to the finest season in its history as the Lions captured the PSUAC championship for the first time. During the regular season, Brandywine won all 16 of its conference matches in three sets and posted 21 victories overall. On October 12, Algeo, in her sixth year leading Brandywine, won the 100th match of her career, a 3-0 triumph over Penn State York.
Algeo owns a 109-45 record with the Lions and will guide Brandywine during its first-ever appearance at the USCAA Tournament on Nov. 5-7. Brandywine will learn its seed for the tournament Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 pm.
