The William and Mary volleyball team battled through adversity Friday night at Hofstra, toughing out four sets before eventually falling on the road 3-1. The Tribe is now 11-19 overall and 6-7 in the CAA, while the Pride improve to 16-13 on the year and the same league record.
Box ScoreLeading the way for the Tribe yet again was sophomore
Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.). She earned her team-best 13th double-double of the year with, appropriately enough, 13 kills and 13 digs, both team-highs on the night. Koleva also added in a pair of blocks and a service ace. Junior
Liz Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) and redshirt-freshman
Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) each ranked second on the team with nine points, Brown's coming on eight kills and two blocks, while Heath had seven kills, three blocks, and eight digs.
Also of note, sophomore
Mallory Brickerd (Ashburg, Va.) had seven kills and a block, and classmate
Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) had a match-best six blocks to go with four kills and no errors. Redshirt-junior
Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) had two aces and two blocks on the night, and senior
Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) had another ace to go with eight digs. Rounding out the notables were the tribe's freshman setters,
Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) with 15 assists and an ace, and
Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) with 16 assists, eight digs, and another ace.
After Hofstra came out to win the first set, 2-22, the Tribe responded quickly with a dominating 25-15 win in the second. Numerous small runs peppered the frame, which saw four of Albright's blocks including two in the final three points. W&M was unable to keep that momentum going after the intermission, however, as the Pride rallied to win the third and the fourth to take the match.
William and Mary is back in action on Sunday at 1 p.m., playing at Northeastern in Boston, Mass. A win will give W&M the fifth seed in next week's tournament in the same bracket as regular-season champion College of Charleston. A loss for the Tribe would make it the sixth seed, and destined for a rematch with Northeastern in the semifinals if the Green and Gold win their first match.
