Brandywine Downed At Gwynedd Mercy Tri-Match

MEDIA, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine volleyball team opened action at the Gwynedd Mercy tri-match by falling to the host Griffins in four sets (6-25, 26-24, 20-25, 16-25) before being downed by Notre Dame of Maryland in straight sets (23-25, 23-25, 21-25) on Saturday.

Match One: Gwynedd Mercy 3, Penn State Brandywine 1

Brandywine overcame a slow start to the day to win the second set. Tied 19-19 in the second frame, Anna Ramirez (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) reeled off Brandywine's next five points via kill before back-to-back Griffin errors gave the set to Brandywine.

Gwynedd Mercy used six-straight points to build an 18-12 edge during the third set and held off the Lions to win 25-20. After Brandywine used a 5-0 spurt to cut the Griffins' lead to 14-11 in the final frame, GMU answered with five-straight points and netted 11 of the final 16 to secure the match.

Ramirez recorded a season-high 13 kills and hit .323, while adding six digs. Laura Jezyk (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) handed out 14 assists and Emma O'Reilly (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) aided the offense with five aces.

Defensively, Britney Howell (Newark, Del./Delcastle Tech) tallied a team-best eight digs, Jezyk added seven and O'Reilly matched Ramirez with six.

Match Two: Notre Dame MD 3, Penn State Brandywine 0

Brandywine kept each set close, but could not register the points it needed late in each frame, falling in straight sets.

O'Reilly's kill handed Brandywine a 22-21 edge, but NDM netted the next two points to jump back in front. After a Ramirez kill equaled the count at 23-all, the Gators tallied back-to-back kills to win the opening set 25-23.

During the second set, the Lions rallied from three points down to take a 21-19 edge thanks to a 7-2 spurt. Brandywine maintained a two-point lead at 23-21; however, Notre Dame recorded the frame's final four points to build a 2-0 match lead.

Trailing 18-14 during the final set, Ramirez notched two kills and Morgan Rizer (Denton, Md./North Caroline) tallied an ace during a 6-1 run that put the Lions in front 20-19. Notre Dame again rallied scoring four-straight points to vault in front before finishing off the set with a kill.

O'Reilly, Ramirez and Hailey Piccirillo (Broadlands, Va./Virginia Academy) all collected six kills, while Jezyk tallied 13 assists. Howell and O'Reilly both had two aces.

Howell again led the defense with 10 digs, while Jezyk produced seven and Ramirez and O'Reilly collected six each.

Brandywine (2-10) will host a rematch with Notre Dame of Maryland on Tuesday as the team's open United East Conference play at 7:00 PM.