Lions Complete Season Sweep Of Mont Alto

MEDIA, Pa. -- For the second time this season, Penn State Brandywine knocked off Penn State Mont Alto in straight sets as the Lions (14-2, 8-0 PSUAC) finished off a season sweep by winning their eighth consecutive match by scores of 25-22, 25-15, 25-20 on Thursday night.

Mont Alto built an early 5-1 lead during the opening set and lead nearly the entire frame until a 6-0 surge, aided by two Becca Civera (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) services aces, a kill from Nikki Poissant (Aston, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and a trio of Mont Alto errors, pushed Brandywine in front, 20-18. Mont Alto cut its deficit to one on two occasions, but Hannah Sarafinas (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) closed out the set with a kill, giving Brandywine a 1-0 lead.

The Lions never trailed during set No. 2, pushing the lead as large as 11 points, before Sarafinas finished off a second set victory with another kill.

Brandywine fought back from an early four-point deficit, knotting the score at 8-8 on a Poissant kill that started a 5-0 run. Mont Alto climbed into a tie with fourth-straight points, but Brandywine used kills by Margot Gargus (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) and Nicolette Napoleon (Springfield, Pa./Penn Charter) to take the lead for good.

Civera led all players with 17 digs and five aces, while Poissant and Lauren Kelly (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) also reached double figures in digs with 10 each. Kelly added three blocks, while Rikelle Taylor (Nottingham, Pa./Solanco) aided in the defensive effort with a match-best four blocks.

Sullivan Stark (Middletown, Del./William Penn) added eight digs and handed out 24 assists. Poissant led the offensive effort by tallying 10 kills, while Kelly totaled six and Taylor and Napoleon both collected four.

Brandywine opens a six-game road trip on Saturday at Penn State York (2:00 pm).