The William and Mary volleyball played its fifth five-set match of the season Friday night, falling in a nailbiter to UNC Wilmington, 3-2.  The Tribe is now 5-9 on the year, while the Seahawks improved to 7-11 and 1-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

W&M once again had several career-best individual performances, led by Monika Stanciauskas' (Wheaton, Ill.) eight blocked shots.  The redshirt-freshman also had seven kills and a pair of service aces.  Sophomore Julia Swalchick (Melbourne, Fla.) had 14 kills on a lifetime-best .462 attack, and freshman Carolina Rivas (Orlando, Fla.) had career-bests of six kills and four blocks while providing 20 assists.

Redshirt-freshman Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Fla.) had a career-high four blocks, and nearly added a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs on the night.  Other notable performances including 20 digs from redshirt-freshman Devin Andrews-Lyssy (Santa Rosa, Calif.), and 14 assists and six digs from junior Molly Krull (Raleigh, N.C.).  In the middle, Shaylin O'Connell (Leesburg, Va.) and Alexandra Ciaccio (Houston, Texas) each had three blocks, part of the Tribe's 12 team blocks.  It was the third time in the last six matches that W&M has totalled double-digit blocks.

In the first set, the Tribe used a 9-2 run to break open a 8-8 tie early and held on comfortably all the way to a 25-20 win.  The second set was nothing short of a slugging match, with a 15 total ties including at every point from 21-21 on.  Despite starting final stages playing catch-up, W&M was able to take the advantage at 26-25, and Swalchick hammered back-to-back kills to claim the 29-27 win.

After the intermission, the third and fourth sets both saw UNCW jump out to early leads before the Tribe roared back into contention.  In the third set, W&M used an 11-5 run to tie the set at 17-17, and was within a point at 21-20 before the Seahawks were able to pull away to a 25-22 victory.  The fourth set found W&M needing a 15-5 run to tie the scorer at 20-20, and in a repeat of the second frame, the two teams tied at every point up to 24 before UNCW was able to win on service, 26-24.  The fifth-set tiebreaker saw W&M go in front 9-5, but the Seahawks were able to rally and win back the set and the match.

William and Mary finishes out its season-opening road trip on Sunday, taking on Georgia State at 1 p.m. in Atlanta.