The William and Mary volleyball team opened CAA play Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 sweep of UNCW on the road.  The Tribe, winners of six straight now, improved to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association while the Seahawks fell to 7-9 and 0-1 in league play.

Box Score

W&M continued its pinpoint hitting of late, hitting .263 with three players at .421 or better.  Redshirt-sophomore Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.) had a match-high 10 kills to lead the Tribe, hitting .420 in the process.  Redshirt-freshman Liz Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) had seven kills while hitting .462, and redshirt-sophomore Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) hit .600 with six kills and no errors.  Also strong on the offensive end, senior Shaylin O'Connell (Leesburg, Va.) had seven kills and a solo block.

Outsides Manon Murray (Greensboro, N.C.) and Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) were their customarily effectiveee selves, with Murray scoring six kills with seven digs and Koleva recording a line of four kills, two aces, and 11 digs.  Senior captain Molly Krull (Raleigh, N.C.) and sophomore Carolina Rivas (Orlando, Fla.) where equally efficient in leading the attack, as Krull dished out 17 assists with seven digs, and Rivas added 15 helpers as well.  Redshirt-sophomore Devin Andrews-Lyssy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) rounded out the notables, adding in five digs to the team total.

The first set saw the Tribe get out in front by three early, at 7-4, but the Seahawks slowly ground away and tied the score at 16-16.  A kill from Brown and block from Brown and Stanciauskas stopped UNCW cold, and ignited an 8-2 run that put things out of reach, and set up Grand Pre to deliver the finishing blow on the 25-20 win.  The home team kept things closer in the second set, even holding a slim 23-22 lead late, but kills from Koleva and Grand Pre put the Tribe at set-point, and Grand Pre and freshman Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) stuffed another Seahawk attack for the final block.

The third and final set looked like it might be one for the Seahawks after they scored three-straight to go up 15-13.  Grand Pre put a stop to that foolishness with an emphatic kill, and ignited a 10-3 run that once again left the Tribe up five and within striking distance of the win at 23-18.  The Seahawks mustered two more points, but kills from Brown and Grand Pre closed things out and propelled W&M to the victory.

William and Mary will be back in action next weekend with a trip through the CAA's northern tier.  The Tribe will take on Hofstra at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, before facing Northeastern Sunday at 1 p.m.