WILKES BARRE, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine volleyball team was defeated twice on Saturday, falling to the host Monarchs (12-25, 17-25, 12-25) in straight sets before dropping a 3-1 decision to Gwynedd Mercy (19-25, 27-25, 11-25, 18-25) at the King's College tri-match.
Against King's, Nicolette Napoleon (Springfield, Pa./Penn Charter) led the way offensively, collecting nine kills, while Rikelle Taylor (Nottingham, Pa./Solanco) posted five. Sullivan Stark (Middletown, Del./William Penn) recorded 10 assists and Julia Miles (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) tallied nine helpers.
On the defensive side, Lauren Kelly (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) registered 12 digs and Becca Civera (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) tallied 10 digs. Jade Maloney (Claymont, Del./Brandywine) and Sydney Stevens (Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. DuPont) both amassed five digs. Maloney also posted three blocks.
King's ran out to a 13-2 lead during the opening set and did not allow the lead to dip lower than 10 points the rest of the way. Brandywine scored the first two points of set No. 2, but King's answered with 12 of the next 14 to build a 12-4 edge. The Lions pulled as close as seven following a Napoleon ace, but could not get closer. The Monarchs used a 7-0 run midway through the final set to pull away and complete the sweep.
Brandywine and Gwynedd were tied 17-17 during a back-and-forth opening set, but the Griffins took control of the frame by scoring eight of the final 10 points.
The Lions bounced back during the second set, climbing back from a 20-17 deficit to go in front 22-21 following three consecutive GMU errors. Trailing 25-24, Brandywine netted the final three points of the frame, using a pair of Griffin miscues and a kill from Kelly to even the series at 1-1.
Gwynedd Mercy countered during the third set, winning 25-11 to open a 2-1 edge. After the Griffins opened up a 16-9 lead during the final stanza, Brandywine battled back, cutting the deficit as small as five points on three occasions, but the deficit was too much to overcome for the Lions.
Civera paced the Lions with a season-best 27 digs, while Maloney (18), Kelly (17), Stevens (14) and Miles (10) also reached double-figure dig totals.
Napoleon again topped the team offensively, recording 11 kills, while Kelly added eight and Maloney totaled four.
Brandywine (0-3) is on the road again Wednesday when it travels to Bryn Mawr for a 7:00 pm match.
