Hazleton stalls at Brandywine

Media, Pa. - Hazleton came up short on Wednesday night at Brandywine in their effort to keep pace as the top seed in the Penn State University Athletic Conference's eastern division. Hazleton was hopeful to split the series after a home loss to Brandywine earlier this season, but the Lion's offense cooled late in the first set of Wednesday's matchup and failed to get going as the match continued. Brandywine would go on for the 3-0 sweep of Hazleton, holding firm command of the top seed in the division. 

The Lady Lions kept within striking distance in the first frame but a 9-3 run by Brandywine to close the set left Hazleton trailing 1-0 in the match. From that point on it was all Brandywine who quickly opened up a double digit lead in the second frame. The Lady Lions were only able to produce consecutive points on just two occasions in the frame, falling by a lopsided margin of 25-11 with a steep hill to climb to get back in contention. Hazleton bounced back with a solid effort in the third stanza, notching eight kills in the set, their most of the evening. But a four point run by the home squad midway through the set put Brandywine up for good, closing out the match 25-17 in the third. 

A tough offensive night for the Lady Lions saw Brandywine outproduce the Hazleton squad 39-16 in the kills department. Freshman Allesandra Banta (Coatesville, Pa.) came away with four kills and seven assists to lead all scorers for Hazleton. Three Lady Lions would total double figures in digs including senior Lauren Nietz (Coaldale, Pa.) with 16, sophomore Chelsey Dominguez (Bronx, Ny.) with 14 and sophomore Samaya Hornsby (Richmond, Ca.) adding 12 digs defensively.

Next up: The Lady Lions will wrap up non-conference play Thursday night when they return home to face Trinity Washington University at 6:00 p.m. in the Dr. Thomas M. Cacesse Gymnasium.