The William and Mary volleyball team rallied twice from heavy deficits against UNCW in the Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinals, coming up just shy of getting over the final hump before falling 3-1.  The Tribe's season is now complete at 11-21 overall and 6-8 in conference play, while the Seahawks moved on to the semifinal round at 20-9, 8-6 in the CAA.

Box Score

Leading the way for the Tribe in her final career match was senior Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.), who notched a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs to go with a pair of blocks.  Classmate Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) had a match-high 19 digs, lifting her season take to a career-best 444 digs.  Freshman Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) had 17 assists and seven digs on the night, while classmate Paige Lucas (Asheboro, N.C.) had 16 assists during her rotations on the floor.

Also of note, sophomore Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) scored nine kills to go with a pair of blocks, and classmate Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) had eight kills and 11 digs.  Redshirt-freshman Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) also had eight kills, matching hers with two blocks.  Redshirt-junior Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) and sophomore Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) each had a team-best three blocks, Stanciauskas matching hers with five kills on a .333 attack and a service ace.

After the Seahawks took the first set, 25-10, W&M rallied in the second behind nine digs for Grand Pre and five kills from Brickerd.  The Tribe slowly move into the advantage on steady play, gaining a point here, two points there, while limiting the UNCW options out to a 19-16 lead.  After the Seahawks took a timeout, the opponents began clawing back, retaking the lead and moving two points in front at 22-20.  Grand Pre put a halt to run and evened the match at 22-22 with two big kills, and after a second tie at 23-23 Stanciauskas and Heath combined on a block that so unnerved UNCW that they committed on unforced error on the ensuing possession and W&M won, 25-23 to even the match.

The Seahawks took the third set again, 25-10, but in a dose of symmetry, the fourth was much closer and the Tribe reached down deep to force extra points.  UNCW was able to build to a five-point lead late, 23-18, but back-to-back kills by Brickerd and Grand Pre ignited a comeback.  A long attack landed out of bounds to pull the Tribe within two, and after a timeout by the Seahawks, Heath and Stanciauskas had another big block that Heath followed up with another kill to force UNCW to burn its second timeout with the score 23-23.  The Seahawks went ahead 24-23, but Heath again tied the score at 24-all.  From there, however, UNCW was able to take advantage of a serve into the net to gain a second match-point, and capitalized on that one to take the set and advance.