Posted: Sep 17, 2025
Brandywine Claims Four-Set Victory Over Gwynedd Mercy
Gwynedd Mercy
(3-2,0-0)
1
Penn State Brandywine
(3-4,0-0)
3
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gwynedd Mercy (3-2,0-0) | 17 | 25 | 15 | 23 | 1 |
|
Penn State Brandywine (3-4,0-0) | 25 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine won for the third-straight outing on its home floor as the Lions topped Gwynedd Mercy 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23) in non-conference volleyball action on Wednesday night.
Brandywine recorded 51 kills, led by Hailey Piccirillo's (Broadlands, Va./Virginia Academy) 12, while Emma O'Reilly (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) tallied 11 and both Emmalin Molinaro (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) and Morgan Rizer (Denton, Md./North Caroline) posted seven.
Lara Zima (Hollywood, Fla./Westminster Academy) coupled six kills with 22 assists and Shayla Howell (Newark, Del./St. George's Tech) notched 19 assists and a team-high three aces.
Defensively, Zima and O'Reilly shared the team lead with 12 digs, while Britney Howell (Newark, Del./Delcastle Tech) added 10 digs and Howell, Ava De La Osa (Dania Beach, Fla./Nova) and Aaliyna Patel (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) all collected eight. Nia Moore (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) registered a team-high four blocks.
Brandywine held a two-point edge, but broke the first set open behind a 6-0 spurt that included four Griffin errors, plus a kill from Molinaro and a Howell ace. The Lions extended the margin to 24-16 and closed out the frame with another Molinaro kill.
The Griffins controlled a majority of the second frame, leading by as many as six points, but the Lions rallied to knot the score at 22-all following a kill from O'Reilly. Gwynedd Mercy answered with two-straight points and later closed out the frame with a kill to even the match at 1-1.
Brandywine led wire-to-wire during the third set, pushing the lead as large as 11 points following a 7-0 run that included three kills from Moore. Gwynedd Mercy never cut the Lions' edge lower than eight points the rest of the way as Brandywine took a 2-1 lead.
The Lions produced the fourth set's first four points and again held the lead for the duration of the frame. The Griffin's climbed as close as one point down at 24-23, but Brandywine held on as Rizer's kill handed the match to Brandywine.
Brandywine (4-4) will play four-straight matches on the road beginning Saturday at Notre Dame (Md.) at 3:00 PM.
