Volleyball sweeps Brandywine

October 19, 2010

The 2-seed Penn State Fayette Roaring Lions Volleyball team swept 7-seed Penn State Brandywine 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-17) in PSUAC Quarterfinal action on October 20 in the Penn State Fayette Community Center Main Arena. The win sets up the Roaring Lions (20-10 overall, 14-2 PSUAC) with a PSUAC semifinal match-up with 3-seed Penn College on Friday, October 22 at 8:30 p.m. in Recreation Hall at Penn State University Park.

The Roaring Lions were led by freshman middle hitter Caitlin Fidel, who recorded 13 kills and two blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Leah Ambrosini added 12 kills and junior hitter Alex Rossi contributed six to the effort, as the team registered 38 kills and seven service aces. Junior setter Katie Sleasman gathered 30 assists, setting up five of her teammates for kills as the Roaring Lions hit .242. The Fayette defense held Brandywine to a -.040 hitting percentage, recording 21 digs and 3.0 team blocks to help put away the match.

The first set opened with a Brandywine service ace followed by a service error. After a Brandywine attack error, freshman Marney Hillen served into the net to tie the score at two. A Fidel kill and two Brandywine attack errors gave Fayette a 5-2 advantage before a Brandywine kill settled the run. Ambrosini made it 6-3 with a kill off a pass from Sleasman. Attack errors by both teams created no separation for the Roaring Lions, and Brandywine followed with a kill to cut the score to 7-5. Hillen followed with a kill before a Brandywine attack error made the lead 9-5. Two Brandywine kills followed, and an attack error by Hillen brought Brandywine within one before Sleasman put away a free ball to make the score 10-8. With freshman libero Jessica Wilson serving, the Roaring Lions went on a six-point run, which included two Fidel kills, one service ace and three Brandywine errors, to extend the lead to 16-8. After a Brandywine kill, Fidel sandwiched an Ambrosini kill with two of her own before a Fayette attack error made the score 19-10. After Fidel's sixth kill of the set, two Brandywine attack errors made it 22-10 as Brandywine called timeout. Attack errors for both teams made it 23-11 before a Fidel service ace made it set point. A Fayette error and Brandywine kill made it 24-13 before Ambrosini put away the set point to take an early 1-0 set advantage.

The second frame saw Fayette in an early 0-2 hole before kills by Ambrosini and Rossi squared the set. Two Brandywine points followed by a Brandywine error made it 3-4, before two Ambrosini kills gave Fayette their first lead of the set at 5-4. A Brandywine run of four straight points gave them an 8-5 advantage before Fayette roared back with three points of their own on a kill by Sleasman, an Ambrosini service ace and a Brandywine attack error. The teams traded kills before a Brandywine attack error and kills by Sleasman and Hillen made it a 13-9 Fayette advantage. Brandywine made it 14-14 until a service error and a Fidel kill created some separation at 16-14. A Fayette service error preceded Ambrosini sandwiching kills around a Brandywine kill to make it 18-16. The teams traded points once again before two straight Brandywine points evened the set at 19. Ambrosini gave the Roaring Lions a 20-19 lead before Brandywine countered with two points of their own to take their fifth lead of the set. After a Fayette timeout, Brandywine had two errors wrapped around a kill to tie the set at 22. Fayette then went on the offensive as Fidel and Hillen made it set point. A Fayette error made it interesting before Brandywine misfired on an attack to give Fayette a 25-23 win and a 2-0 set advantage. The second set saw nine lead changes and nine ties, while neither team could create more than a four point advantage.

The Roaring Lions went for the kill in the third set, jumping out to a quick 8-0 lead off of four Hillen service aces, two Fidel kills and two Brandywine attack errors. Brandywine made it 9-2 before two Ambrosini kills and a kill by Rossi extended the Fayette lead to 12-2. Two Brandywine errors coupled with two Rossi kills made it 16-2. Rossi and Brandywine traded kills, before a Brandywine attack error and a kill by freshman Lacey Mathews made it 19-3. Brandywine battled back with six straight points to cut the deficit to 10, but two service errors sandwiched around a Fayette attack error stopped the momentum. Two more Brandywine points were stopped with a Fidel kill, but Brandywine answered with six more points to cut the Roaring Lion lead to 23-17. Sleasman then set-up Ambrosini and Fidel with passes as the leading hitters put the set and match away at 25-17.

Fayette's match-up with Penn College will follow the other semifinal match-up between 1-seed Penn State Mont Alto and 4-seed Penn State DuBois, slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. The Roaring Lions beat Penn College 3-2 in the only meeting between the teams this season back on October 10.