Brandywine Drops Two Matches In New Jersey

CAMDEN, N.J. – The Penn State Brandywine volleyball team dropped both matches of a tri-match Sunday afternoon at Rutgers-Camden, falling 3-0 to the home standing Scarlet Raptors (25-9, 25-12, 25-17) and Alvernia (25-12, 25-23, 25-21).

Match 1: Rutgers-Camden 3, Penn State Brandywine 0

Anna Ramirez (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) and Hailey Piccirillo (Broadlands, Va./Virginia Academy) both produced six kills, while Laura Jezyk (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) handed out nine assists in the opening match of the day against Rutgers-Camden.

Defensively, Emmalin Molinaro (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) and Emma O'Reilly (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) shared the team lead with five digs. Lexie Berry (Brookhaven, Pa./Daegu) notched a team-high four blocks and Morgan Rizer (Denton, Md./North Caroline) posted two.

Early runs during the first two sets helped give the hosts a 2-0 lead as the Scarlet Raptors registered the first 11 points of the opening set and opened up a 16-4 edge during the second frame. The Lions hung tough during set No. 3 as Piccirillo's kill gave Brandywine a 10-9 advantage, but RUC answered with a 9-0 surge and the hosts withstood a late 6-1 Brandywine run, which included a pair of kills from Ramirez, to close out the match.

Match 2: Alvernia 3, Penn State Brandywine 0

Brandywine and Alvernia were tied 6-6 during the first set, but an 11-0 run was the difference as the Golden Wolves pulled away to claim a 1-0 edge in the match.

The second set featured eight tie scores as the teams swapped the lead throughout the frame. Four-straight Alvernia points gave the Golden Wolves a 17-12 edge; however, a 6-1 Brandywine spurt, aided by three kills from Ramirez and a Piccirillo ace, tied the count at 18-all. Back-to-back Alvernia points put Brandywine behind again, but kills from Piccirillo and Rizer knotted the score at 22-22 and 23-23, respectively; however, Alvernia received consecutive kills to claim the set, 25-23.

Brandywine nearly overcame a late, four-point deficit, pulling within one following a kill from Sophie Scrivo (Chester, Conn./Valley Regional), but Alvernia netted seven of the final 10 points to complete the sweep.

Rizer collected a team-best six kills, while Ramirez and Piccirillo both tallied four. Jezyk recorded 13 assists and added four digs. Ava De La Osa (Dania Beach, Fla./Nova) amassed a team-high 11 digs and O'Reilly registered 10, while Ramirez added nine.

Brandywine (1-3) will play at home for the first time this fall on Tuesday night when the Lions host Lancaster Bible at 7:00 PM.