York Rallies Past Brandywine In Five Sets

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine claimed the first two sets, but Penn State York rallied to win the final three frames and defeat the host Lions 3-2 (25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 26-28, 7-15) Satuday afternoon in PSUAC volleyball action.

Brandywine, which dropped a home conference match for the first time since 2016, received 14 kills and 22 digs from Anna Ramirez (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East), while Laura de Jesus (Santo Domingo, D.R./New Horizons) and Jordan Thompson (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) both registered nine kills. Madison Swenson (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) dished out 39 assists and tallied 18 digs.

Thompson added five digs, four blocks and three aces, while Suzie Alvarenga (Fullerton, Calif./Notre Dame Academy) paced the Lions with 23 digs. Sydney Stevens (Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. DuPont) added 13 digs and Amanda Floyd (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) recorded seven digs and six kills.

The opening set was tied 11-11 when kills from Ramirez bookended a 7-0 Brandywine spurt. The visitors answered with four-straight points, but would get no closer as three errors and a kill from Dana Palmer (New London, Pa./Avon Grove) sent the first set to Brandywine, 25-18.

York scored six of the first seven points of set No. 2, but a Thompson ace knotted the score at 8-8. The teams traded the lead before kills from de Jesus, Palmer and Ramirez helped Brandywine end the set with six of the final seven points, giving the Lions a 2-0 edge.

Brandywine led the third set 17-15; however, York netted four-straight and 10 of the final 13 points to stay alive in the match.

The Lions owned a 21-19 edge in set No. 4 before York reeled off five consecutive points. Brandywine staved off three set points thanks to two errors and an ace from Stevens, but after swapping points, York recorded a kill and an ace to push the match to a deciding fifth frame.

York took a 5-1 lead and held off Brandywine, which got as close as three down after a de Jesus kill, as the visitors ended the set with six of the final eight points to claim the match.

Brandywine (3-2, 2-1 PSUAC) returns to action Wednesday at Penn State Lehigh Valley at 6:00 pm.