By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Brandywine's varsity volleyball team was hoping to come away from Monday evening's game between visiting Niles with a win.
Afterall, it was Senior Night in the Bobcat gym where seniors Kelli Zache and Nikki Martyniuk were recognized.
Unfortunately, Brandywine was was only able to win one game out of four played, suffering a 4-1 loss in non-conference action.
The Bobcats, who are now 15-19-3 overall, were able to pull away with a win in the first match, blowing by the Vikings 25-14.
But a strong showing from Niles allowed the Vikes to go on to win the next three games in a row.
In the second game, Niles quickly jumped to a big lead, going ahead 20-5 at one point.
Though the Bobcats were able to catch up, a defense error on their part allowed the Vikes to claim the 25-19 win.
The third game was very close, with Niles taking an early lead and holding on to it for most of the contest.
After being tied at 13, Kendra Zache served an ace to give the Bobcats a 14-13 lead. However, Niles was able to tie the game right back at 14 and take the lead back on an ace from Brittney Passig. The Bobcats were never able to pull ahead again as Niles won the third game, 25-20.
The fourth game was also a very close one, with both teams taking turns leading, but in the end, Niles edged Brandywine for the 28-26 win.
Statistically for Niles, Passig led in kills with six, Karly Kennedy had five and Claire Molnar, Bourbainnas and Kaylynn Stephenson each had four.
Bourbainnas and Passig each had two blocks and Stephenson and Madde Peterek each had one.
Stephenson served up five aces, Kennedy had three and Molnar and Passig each had two.
Sam Brawley had 15 digs, Kennedy had six, Peterek had five and Stephenson had four.
Peterek also had 17 assists.
For the Bobcats, Missy Cooper had 20 assists and eight digs. Kelli Zache had seven digs and 11 kills. Kendra Zache had 16 kills and two blocks, Nikki Martyniuk had 11 kills and Katie Smallwood added two blocks.