The William and Mary volleyball team was locked ina  grueling marathon with Delaware Friday night, pushing the fifth-set tiebreaker out an extra 10 points before ultimately falling 3-2.  The Tribe is now 6-14 overall and 1-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Blue Hens improved to 10-8 and 2-2 in league play.

Box Score

Leading the way for W&M yet again was junior Liz Brown (Ellicott City, Md.), who had 17 kills and a match-high six blocks on the night.  She was matched in the block totals by redshirt-junior Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.), with Stanciauskas adding in seven kills and two of the tribe's season-best nine aces.  Sophomore Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) had five blocks to add to her team-leading total, and also had 10 kills on a sparkling .533 hitting percentage.

Also of note for the Tribe, senior Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) had 29 digs, four assists, and three service aces.  Double-doubles went to Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) and Paige Lucas (Asheboro, N.C.); the former with 12 kills and 14 digs, the latter pairing 49 assists and 15 digs.  Redshirt-junior Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.) had 19 digs to go with an ace, and sophomore Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) and redshirt-freshman Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) both came near double-doubles of their own.  Brickerd had eight kills, six digs, and a pair of aces, while Heath had nine kills, eight digs, an ace, and two blocks.

The Tribe won the first set 25-21, utilizing a couple small four-and-five point runs to pull away from the visitors.  In the second, Delaware got out to a nine-point lead at 23-14, but the Tribe came battling back with an 8-1 run to close within two before a Blue Hens kill ended it, 25-22.  Out of the break, W&M put together the best set for either team on the night, completing an extended 16-6 run to close out Delaware 25-14.  The fourth set, like the second, saw Delaware jump out in front early, but the Tribe worked its way back even at 14-14, and then again to within two at 21-19 before the visitors won 25-19 to set up the fifth.  During that fourth set, Heath made perhaps the play of the night, diving off the press-row table to save a pass and allow her team to get it back over the net.

The tiebreak looked all-Delaware early, with the Blue Hens getting out in front 7-3, but the Tribe was patient and kept working their plays, chipping away at the lead until they were down two match-points, 14-12.  A service error cut the deficit in half, and Brickerd began hammering kills, pulling the Green and Gold even at 14-14 and 15-15 to save two more match points.  Koleva picked up a kill to swing the advantage the other way, 16-15 for the Tribe, and Delaware called its last timeout.  The two teams kept swinging away like champion prizefighters, locking up all the way to 19-19, but Delaware was ultimately able to get two stops in a row, and closed things out with a final kill, 21-19.

William and Mary is back in action Saturday night, hosting Towson at 7 p.m.