Brandywine Knocks Off Hazleton; Advances To PSUAC Semifinals

MEDIA, Pa. -- Second-seeded Penn State Brandywine defeated third-seeded Penn State Hazleton in straight sets (25-23, 30-28, 25-22) during the opening round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday night, advancing to the conference semifinals for the ninth time in the last 10 years.

Brandywine (13-9), winner of four-straight matches, will face Penn State Mont Alto, the top seed from the PSUAC West Division, in the semifinal round on Monday night inside Rec Hall in State College.

Suzie Alvarenga (Fullerton, Calif./Notre Dame Academy) set a career high with 33 digs to pace the defense, while Laura Jezyk (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) tallied 16 digs and Amanda Floyd (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) collected three blocks. Sydney Stevens (Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. DuPont) recorded nine digs and Leilu Campbell (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) registered eight.

On the offensive end, Jezyk handed out 23 assists and Floyd posted a team-best 11 kills. Anna Ramirez (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) added seven kills, along with 10 digs.

The opening set went back-and-forth with neither team holding a lead of more than three points. Hazleton netted back-to-back points to take a late edge in the frame at 23-22; however, Brandywine answered with the next three points. Ramirez set down a kill before Lexie Berry (Brookhaven, Pa./Daegu (South Korea)) and Katie Snyder (Wilmington, Del./Dickinson) combined for a block to put Brandywine on top. A Hazleton hitting error handed the set to Brandywine by a 25-23 count.

Brandywine seized the match's momentum by putting together a furious rally late in set No. 2. Trailing 23-16, Brandywine used a block from Floyd, an ace from Alvarenga and two Hazleton miscues to pull within three. After a Hazleton tally set the visitors up with set point, Floyd's kill set off a run of four-straight Brandywine points to tie the frame at 24-all. The Lions staved off one more set point thanks to a Hazleton service error and after the teams swapped the next six points, a service error and a kill from Jezyk were enough to give Brandywine the set by a score of 30-28.

Brandywine led for nearly the entire third period, but a run of four-straight Hazleton points put the visitors on top 21-19. Back-to-back errors committed by Hazleton tied the count before a Brandywine miscue put Hazleton back on top 22-21; however, the remainder of the set belonged to Floyd as she set down three consecutive kills and Ramirez followed with a kill to end the match and send Brandywine to the semifinal round.

Brandywine and Mont Alto will be Monday night's second semifinal match and is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM. Penn State York will play the winner of the Penn State Greater Allegheny-Penn State Fayette match at 5:00 PM.