WILLIAMSBURG - The William and Mary volleyball team put up a terrific fight in front of a school-record crowd, but the Tribe was narrowly edged by Northeastern in four sets, 3-1. The Tribe's record now stands even at 7-7, and 1-1 in the CAA, while Northeastern improves to 11-5, 2-0 in the conference.

Box Score

W&M senior Ginny Bray (Cary, N.C.) had a great night on both sides of the night, hitting .400 with a career-high 17 kills, and adding a match-high five blocks. Classmate Erin Skipper (Yorktown, Va.) and junior Lindsay Kresch (Moon Township, Pa.) each added 10 kills to the team's total, with Skipper also providing 11 digs and three blocks, and Kresch taking on seven digs.

Senior setter Cassie Crumal (Castle Rock, Colo.) continued her strong play from the past few weeks, providing 36 assists, seven digs, and a block. Freshman Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) had 11 digs and two aces, and junior Anne Dorff (Kent, ohio) had five kills on a .500 attack and two blocks.

The Tribe fell behind early in the first set, but quickly rallied with a five-point run that gave W&M the lead at 10-9. Northeastern was able to piece together a couple mini-runs to retake control of the set and went up by as many as five, at 18-13, before three kills from Bray helped fuel a 6-1 run for the home team that leveled the score once again at 19-19. The Huskies were able to regain the lead, however, and held on for the 25-20 win.

In the second set, Northeastern continued to control the early goings, but Bray changed all that as she took personal control of a 7-3 Tribe run that left W&M ahead 14-12. She got things going with her team down 7-10 with a pair of kills from Crumal, and after a Northeastern kill, got up for solo blocks on two consecutive points to tie the set at 11-11. The Huskies got another kill to retake the lead, but a sequence of three points saw Bray knock down a kill, partner with Crumal for yet another block, and put away an overpass for her fourth kill of the run. Northeastern came back to retake the lead at 18-17, before Kresch knocked down a pass from Crumal to tie the score for the final time. Skipper then emulated Bray with a three-point sequence of kill, block alongside Dorff, and kill to put the Green and Gold ahead 21-18. Northeastern would get as close as one point three times between 22-1 and 24-23, but each time, Skipper or Bray were there to finish off an assist from Crumal and keep the Tribe in position to win the set, which finally came at 25-23.

Both teams came out of the rbeak pumped up and ready to go, and embarked on a wild ride that saw 10 ties and seven lead changes. W&M had a pair of four-point runs in the set, but until the very end, both teams were stealing points one bunches of just one or two while defending against the same, putting abuzz into the school-record crowd of 452. Two kills by Skipper lifted W&M to a 23-20 lead, but the Huskies were able to rally back and scratch out enough points to take the set, 25-23. That momentum swing carried the visitors through the fourth set until W&M found themselves staring at an 11-point deficit at 23-12. The Green and Gold would not go down without a fight, however, and Ginny Bray knocked down her 17th kill of the night to spark a 6-1 run to close to 18-24, and very much on the verge of a huge rally of their own. Kresch had a pair of kills in the run, and Dorff provided both a kill and a solo block, but a final attack was just a touch too low and the Huskies were able to hold on for the win, 25-18.

William and Mary continues at home in the CAA next weekend, as the Tribe hosts VCU Saturday night, October 2nd, at 7 p.m. as part of the College's Family Weekend festivities.