Brandywine Falls In Straight Sets

READING, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine volleyball team dropped a straight-set decision at Penn State Berks, falling 3-0 (11-25, 22-25, 25-27), on Saturday afternoon.

Hailey Piccirillo (Broadlands, Va./Virginia Academy) posted a team-high six kills, while Emma O'Reilly (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Anna Ramirez (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) both had four. Laura Jezyk (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) notched nine assists and tied for the team lead with two aces.

Defensively, Piccirillo and Morgan Rizer (Denton, Md./North Caroline) each collected four blocks, while Ava De La Osa (Dania Beach, Fla./Nova) registered a team-high 12 digs. O'Reilly added eight digs.

Berks opened up a 16-10 lead during the opening set and pulled away by scoring nine of the final 10 points to claim the first frame.

Five-straight points allowed the hosts to hold a 12-7 lead in set No. 2, but Brandywine battled back, scoring the next four points, including a kill from Piccirillo and an ace from Jezyk. The Lions closed within one point twice more during the set, but could not tie the count. Back-to-back errors by Berks brought the score to 23-22 before Berks took advantage of two Brandywine miscues to win the set.

Brandywine led the final set by as many as three points at 19-16; however, Berks responded with eight of the next nine points to take the lead at 24-20. Two Piccirillo kills, an ace from Ramirez and two Berks errors allowed Brandywine to fight back into the lead at 25-24, but Berks tallied the final three points of the day to complete the sweep.

Brandywine (6-15, 3-5 United East) will play its final home match of the season on Tuesday against Cairn at 7:00 PM.