Brandywine Rallies For Five-Set Victory

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – Wilson won two of the first three sets, but Penn State Brandywine rallied to win the final two frames and claim a five-set United East Conference volleyball victory by a 3-2 (18-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 15-9) on Wednesday night.

Nia Moore (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) fueled the Brandywine offense all night, collecting a career-high 16 kills, along with four blocks. Morgan Rizer (Denton, Md./North Caroline) notched 12 kills, while Hailey Piccirillo (Broadlands, Va./Virginia Academy) and Emma O'Reilly (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) both tallied eight kills. Emmalin Molinaro (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) produced a team-high five aces.

Shayla Howell (Newark, Del./St. George's Tech) dished out a career-high 36 assists. Her performance is Brandywine's first 35-plus assist output since Laura Jezyk (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) totaled 36 on Oct. 5, 2022.

Despite five kills from Moore, the hosts claimed the night's opening set 25-18. Brandywine answered by winning set No. 2 by the same count. The Lions led 18-15 before pulling away with five-straight markers thanks to a pair of points from Piccirillo and three Wilson errors.

The Phoenix scored six of the final seven points to claim the third set and opened the fourth frame with a 5-0 lead before Brandywine rallied. The Lions produced a 6-1 surge, taking their first lead of the set following a kill from O'Reilly that made the count 8-7. Neither team led by more than two points until Brandywine took advantage of two Phoenix miscues and a kill by Moore to push their lead to 20-16. The Lions extended the margin to five following an ace from Howell and forced a deciding fifth set as Piccirillo set down a kill.

Brandywine ran out to a 6-1 edge in the fifth set thanks to a pair of kills from Rizer and two points by O'Reilly. The Lions' lead swelled to seven points following Molinaro's fifth ace of the night, but Wilson netted four-straight points to climb within 11-8. Brandywine answered with three consecutive markers and Rizer completed the comeback with a kill.

Defensively, O'Reilly led the Lions with 17 digs, while Rizer posted 10 digs and two blocks. Howell added eight digs and two blocks and Aaliyna Patel (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) notched eight digs.

Brandywine (9-7, 3-1 UEC) hosts Penn State Berks Saturday beginning at noon.