The William and Mary volleyball team put on a thrilling show on Senior Night Friday against Northeastern, storming back from an 0-2 deficit to force the fifth-set tiebreaker before ultimately falling 3-2.  The Tribe is now 13-11 on the year and 5-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Huskies improved to 19-5, 8-2 in league play.

Box Score

Freshman Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) led the way for W&M, scoring collegiate-bests of 17 kills, five blocks, and 20 total points.  She also added 12 digs for a double-double.  Redshirt-sophomore Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.) also had a double-double, 12 kills and 11 digs, and redshirt-freshman Liz Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) had 10 kills, a service ace, and two blocks.

Also of note, senior captain Molly Krull (Raleigh, N.C.) had 31 assists, eight digs, and another service ace.  Classmate Shaylin O'Connell (Leesburg, Va.) had six kills, two blocks, and two digs, and junior captain Alexandra Ciaccio (Houston, Texas) added in five kills and three blocks.  Rounding out the offensive stat-stuffers, sophomore Carolina Rivas (Orlando, Fla.) had 15 assists, nine digs, and two aces, while freshman middle Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) matched Koleva with a match-high five blocks and also scored three kills.  The Tribe's defensive efforts were led by junior Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.), who had 14 digs to go along with two service aces.  Redshirt-sophomore Devin Andrews-Lyssy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) added in 11 more digs to the team's night.

Northeastern jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the match with wins in the first and second sets, but after the intermission the College came roaring out of the lockerroom and took control of the third set early.  The Tribe used an 9-2 run to go ahead 11-4, forcing the Huskies to take a timeout.  Points were traded back and forth for the next several minutes until W&M had doubled-up Northeastern at 16-8 on back-back kills by Koleva and Ciaccio.  The visitors starting to get their bearings back with a 12-5 run of their own, ending with a W&M timeout with the Tribe holding a slim 21-20 edge.  The break settled the Green and Gold, and O'Connell scored three of the final four points herself to claim the 25-22 victory.

The fourth set evolved among similar lines, with the Tribe controlling the early and mid-games thanks to two runs, a 6-2 jag that put W&M ahead 12-8, and another 7-2 streak that extended the lead to 19-12.  Once again, however, the veteran Northeastern squad battled its way back, tying the score at 24-24.  Koleva score a kill to put the Tribe at set-point, but two points for the Huskies swung the momentum around and put W&M on the defense, fending off three match-points in the next six points.  Brown was the catalyst for the superb stand, scoring kills on the first two elimination-points to re-tie the score, and after a Northeastern error, she served out the set with an ace and another kill to claim the 30-28 win and force the tiebreaker.

The visitors came out strong in the fifth-set, jumping in front 4-1 early before the Tribe was able to string together a 6-2 run of its own and get in front, 7-6.  The two teams traded points in the next six serves, before the Huskies finally got three in a row and went ahead 12-10.  The College worked hard to try and achieve another tie, but simply ran out of time as Northeastern was able to fend off and hold on to the 15-13 win.

The regular season comes to a close for William and Mary next weekend, as the Tribe hits the road for the last two CAA matches.  On Friday, Nov. 9, W&M will take on Delaware at 4 p.m., before continuing on to face league-leading Towson Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.