The William and Mary volleyball team stepped up its play Friday night at league-leading College of Charleston, pushing the Cougars deep into extra points in the second set before falling 3-0.  The Tribe moves to 7-15 overall and 2-4 on the year, while the Cougars improved to 16-4 and 6-0 in league play.

Box Score

Leading the way for the Tribe was sophomore Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.), who came off the bench to tally a team-best 13 kills on a .250 attack, adding nine digs, three blocks, and a service ace.  Redshirt-junior Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) matched her with a match-high three blocks, while also hitting six kills on a .222 attack.  Redshirt-freshman Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) had seven kills, an ace, and a team-best 12 digs, while freshman Kristen Larrick (Bethesda, Md.) had five more kills.  Fellow rookie Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) had 10 digs to go with senior Celine Alasomuka's (Centreville, Va.), and Paige Lucas (Asheboro, N.C.) had 25 assists and five digs.

After Charleston took the first set, the second had 13 ties and six lead changes.  The Cougars scored after the final timeout to knot the score at 23-all, before a kill from Koleva (her fourth of the set) gave the Tribe set point at 24-23.  Charleston responded again, and swung into the advantage with another quick point at 25-24.  The Green and Gold fought off three match points to reach 27-27, and got back into the lead on the next point.  The Tribe got a block from Koleva and Stanciauskas, and another kill from Koleva, but were unable to put away the pesky Cougars who eventually rallied for the 32-30 win.

William and Mary is back in action on Sunday afternoon, facing off at UNCW (13-7, 2-4) at 1 p.m.