Brandywine Rolls Into PSUAC Volleyball Semifinals

MEDIA, Pa. -- Top-seeded Penn State Brandywine made quick work of No. 4 Penn State Lehigh Valley, sweeping a Penn State University Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal match 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-14) Wednesday night on its home floor to advance to the tournament semifinals.

Brandywine (17-14), the defending PSUAC champion, will be making its seventh-straight appearance in the PSUAC Tournament semifinals. The Lions, who defeated Lehigh Valley for the third time this season, won conference championships in 2015 and 2017.

Twenty-nine of Brandywine's 75 points came from service aces as Becca Civera (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester), Julia Miles (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) and Alsatia Haas-Tome (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) all collected eight aces. Nicolette Napoleon (Springfield, Pa./Penn Charter) added four aces and paced all players with 14 kills.

Miles collected seven assists, seven digs and four kills, while Civera posted seven digs and Madison Swenson (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) dished out 13 assists.

Brandywine reeled off the final six points of the first set, using kills by Napoleon and Hope Coacher (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) to close out the frame and take a 1-0 lead.

The Lions trailed 6-4, but took command of set No. 2 by producing 11-straight points, with seven of those points coming on Haas-Tome aces. Lehigh Valley closed within 15-9, but five consecutive Brandywine points helped put the set away and give the Lions a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Another long run, this one of nine-straight points, helped Brandywine build an 11-point advantage and the Lions' lead would not dip below double figures for the remainder of the third set as Brandywine swept Lehigh Valley for the third time this season.

Brandywine moves on to play in the semifinal round at Rec Hall where it will battle Penn State Beaver, the No. 3 seed from the West Division, on Monday night at 7:00 PM. Beaver upset No. 2 Penn State DuBois in straight sets earlier Wednesday.