Top-Seeded Brandywine Set To Host PSUAC Volleyball Tournament
MEDIA, Pa. -- After finishing the regular season with a 16-0 conference record, Penn State Brandywine has earned the right to host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament this Friday and Saturday.
As the No. 1 seed, Brandywine has earned a bye through the quarterfinal round and will head straight to the semifinals for a matchup with either No. 4 Penn State DuBois or No. 5 Penn State Beaver at 2:00 PM on Saturday. DuBois and Beaver will square off in Friday's first quarterfinal at 5:00 PM, followed by No. 3 Penn State Fayette facing No. 6 Penn State Lehigh Valley at 7:00 PM.
Brandywine, which enters the postseason riding a 17-game winning streak, owns a school record 23 victories, compared to just two losses, under the direction of first-year Head Coach Fabiana Scavicchio-Fields. The Lions went undefeated during their conference slate for the second time, having also accomplished the feat in 2015, the same year the team won its only PSUAC championship.
During its 16 conference matches, Brandywine dropped just two sets, one each to both of its potential semifinal opponents. The Lions had to battle back from 1-0 deficits in bouts against DuBois on Oct. 22 and versus Beaver on Sept. 30, winning the final three frames of each match by at least four points.
Brandywine is led by its lone senior, 2016 PSUAC Player of the Year and USCAA All-American Nikki Poissant. Poissant leads the team and ranks third in the league with 244 kills and also owns 189 digs and 55 aces. 2016 all-conference setter Sullivan Stark is the PSUAC leader with 91 aces and owns the second-highest assist total in the league (643), while Becca Civera is fourth in the PSUAC in digs (244) and Rikelle Taylor is tied for fourth in blocks (40).
The winners of Saturday afternoon's semifinal match will meet inside of Rec Hall in State College on Tuesday, Oct. 31 in the championship match, which is slated to begin at 7:00 PM. No. 2 Penn State Mont Alto has also earned a bye into the semifinals and will face the winner of the Fayette-Lehigh Valley match at 4:00 PM on Saturday.
PSUAC Tournament
Friday, Oct. 27:
No. 4 DuBois vs. No. 5 Beaver - 5:00 PM
Nov. 3 Fayette vs. No. 6 Lehigh Valley - 7:00 PM
Saturday, Oct. 28:
No. 1 Brandywine vs. Beaver/DuBois - 2:00 PM
No. 2 Mont Alto vs. Fayette/Lehigh Valley - 4:00 PM
Tuesday, Oct. 31:
Championship match - 7:00 PM at Rec Hall
