Dominating play in the fifth set led the William and Mary volleyball to its second set road victory Saturday night, downing Delaware 3-2.  With the win, the Tribe improved to 9-17 overall and 4-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Blue Hens fell to 11-12 and 3-6 in the conference.  W&M is now tied for fourth in the league table, with five matches remaining all against other top-four teams.

Box Score

After Delaware took the first set handily, W&M responded with wins in sets two and three, 25-20 and 25-23.  The Blue Hens came back to win the fourth, 25-19, and force a fifth-set tiebreaker for the second time between these two teams this fall.    Any concerns the Tribe might have had about momentum evaporated quickly, as a block from Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) and Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) ignited a 6-1 run for W&M that led to a Delaware timeout with the Green and Gold on top, 6-3.  That break didn't help the home team, as Brickerd hit her fourth kill of the set and kicked off another 7-1 run to put the Tribe up 13-4.  After the Blue Hens got a kill, they promptly gave the Tribe match-point with an errant serve, and redshirt-freshman Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) delivered the final kill to earn W&M its first win in Newark since 2008.

For the match, Brickerd had 15 kills and junior Liz Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) 14 more, with three and two blocks, respectively.  THe Tirbe defense was spectacular all-around, with 100 digs and 11 total blocks.  Three players eclipsed 20 digs in the match, led by senior Celine Alasomuka's (Centreville, Va.) 28, while sophomore Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) and Heath each had a career-high 21 digs.  The pair also had identical statlines of nine kills and two blocks apiece, with Koleva adding in a pair of service aces.

Sophomore Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) led all players with seven blocks, surpassing 100 for the season, and Stanciauskas added in five blocks.  Both freshmen setters recorded double-doubles, Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) with 19 assists, 11 digs, and a pair of aces, while Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) almost identical with 19 assists and 10 digs.

William and Mary returns home for a pair of matches next weekend.  The Tribe will host Northeastern Friday night, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., before taking on Hofstra Saturday night also at 7 p.m.