Behind a pair of record-setting performances, the William and Mary volleyball team blanked Georgia State Sunday 3-0, bringing the Tribe's 15-match road trip to a successful end. W&M improves to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Panthers fall to 8-12, and 2-1 in league play.
The Tribe's win was sparked by a pair of outstanding performances from the Class of 2014. Sophomore Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) got back to her usual dominant self on the defensive end, digging 31 balls to break her own school record for digs in a three-set match set last month against Robert Morris. Alasomuka's performance also tied her career-best for digs in a single match, and is tied for the 14th-most ever in school history. Her individual total paved the way for W&M to log 73 digs as a team, tied for the seventh-most in school history.
Redshirt-freshman Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.) also turned in a record-setting performance, collecting 18 kills, eight digs, and three blocks on 57 attack attempts. That number of attempts matches the standard set by Ellen Gazdowicz '01 in 1998 for a three-set match. Grand Pre also ranks tied for sixth all-time in a three-set match with her 18 kills, and tied for 13th with 19.5 total points.
Other performances of note included freshman Carolina Rivas (Orlando, Fla.), who had 39 assists and nine digs, as well as sophomore Julia Swalchick (Melbourne, Fla.), who tied her career-best with four blocks in addition to eight kills. Redshirt-freshman Monika Stanciauskas (Wehaton, Ill.) led all players with five blocks, and also had six kills on a .417 attack, and senior Brooke Bauernfeind (Ashburn, Va.) had nine kills. Rounding out the notables, junior Molly Krull (Raleigh, N.C.) served up three aces to go with five digs, and redshirt-freshman Devin Andrews-Lyssy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) had 12 digs and one ace.
In the first set, down 15-9, the Tribe capitalized on kills from nearly every spot on the floor to rip off a 9-2 run and take a slim lead at 18-17. Although the Panthers would tie the score several times after that point, including at 22-22, W&M never relinquished the advantage and kills by Swalchick and Grand Pre set up a Molly Krull ace to end the set 25-23. The second set saw W&M go on its run early, a similar 9-2 streak capped off by a block by Grand Pre and Stanciauskas that made the score 13-8. The Tribe held the Panthers at arms-length the rest of the way, never letting the margin dip below three en route to a 25-21 win.
The third set saw Georgia State take another imposing lead midway through the set, and the Tribe soon found itself on the wrong end of a 21-17 score. However, a Pantehrs service error and a block from Swalchick and junior Shaylin O'Connell (Leesburg, Va.) started the Tribe rally that tied the score at 22-22. GSU scored to go ahead again, but hit the next ball out to knot the set again at 23-all. That was all the breathing room W&M would need, as Grand Pre hit her 18th and final kill to set up match point, before combining with with Stanciauskas again for a thunderous block to end the afternoon 25-23.
With its school-record 15-match road trip now complete, William and Mary returns home to play eight of the next 10 in Williamsburg. The homestand starts on Thursday night, Oct. 6, with the Tribe hosting the VCU Rams at 7 p.m. in Kaplan Arena.
