Volleyball Season Ends At USCAA Tournament

CANTON, N.Y. – Eighth-seeded Penn State Brandywine saw its volleyball season come to an end following a 2-0 (25-15, 25-17) loss to No. 5 St. Mary of the Woods on Friday afternoon at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Championship on the campus of SUNY Canton.

Brandywine capped off the finest season in program history with a 21-6 record after earning its first-ever bid to the USCAA Tournament. The Lions, who rolled through their conference schedule without a loss, earned the PSUAC's automatic bid by taking down Penn State Fayette in the league championship game, claiming its first PSUAC crown. From Sept. 26-Oct. 25, Brandywine won 13-straight matches and lost just one set during that span.

On Thursday, the Lions became the third team from Brandywine to win a game at a USCAA Tournament when Brandywine scored the final nine points of the deciding set to knock off Maine Fort Kent 2-1.

Friday also signaled the final game in a Brandywine uniform for the Lions' six-player senior class.

Senior setter Miranda Biondi (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown) added 12 more assists to her school-record total against St. Mary of the Woods, finishing her career with 2,169. The USCAA Student-Athlete of the Year, PSUAC Player of the Year and second team all-American ranked among the top six nationally in aces during all four seasons at Brandywine, totaling 327 overall.

Kim Russo (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) led Brandywine with nine digs against the Pomeroys and capped off her four years at Brandywine with 1,083 digs. The four-time, all-conference standout became Brandywine's first player to reach 1,000 career digs earlier this season.

Nicole Costa (Lansdowne, Pa./Upper Darby), who earned all-PSUAC first team honors for the third-straight year, closed out her career with 651 kills and 204 blocks, while Kelsi Wiest (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) added four digs during her final match, pushing her career total to 651.

Kirsten Jerla (Springfield, Pa./Notre Dame) registered 471 kills in 103 matches with the Lions, while Molly Nichols (Lenni, Pa./Penncrest) tallied 237 kills after transferring to Brandywine before her junior season.

The Pomeroys pulled away from Brandywine midway through the opening set, scoring five-straight points to build a comfortable lead, which would not dip below seven the rest of the way.

Three kills by Halee Kusner (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) helped Brandywine establish a 5-1 lead in the second frame, but St. Mary of the Woods answered with nine of the match's next 10 points. With the Pomeroys leading 23-14, Brandywine used kills from Costa and Nikki Poissant (Aston, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) along with a SMW error to score three consecutive points; however, the Pomeroys halted the Lions' momentum by tallying the final two points to close out the set.

Kusner led Brandywine with six kills, while Poissant tallied four kills and four digs and Nichols registered two blocks.