The William and Mary volleyball team went to a full five sets once again, but was edged by James Madison 3-2 in the final home match of the season Friday night.  The Tribe is now 11-18 overall and an even 6-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Dukes improved to 11-14 on the season and also 6-6 in league play.

Box Score

Several milestones were reached in the match, including by senior Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) who was appearing in Kaplan Arena for the final time.  She led the Tribe with 23 digs, surpassing 400 for the season to become just the second player in school history with two 400+ dig seasons in her career.  Also of note, classmate Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.) had 10 digs, going over the 800-dig plateau in her career, and added six kills.  Sophomore Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) led all players with 18 kills, tying her career high and passing the 500-kill milestone in the process.

Koleva also had 22 digs, an ace, and two blocks on the night to earn her team-leading 12th double-double of the season.  Freshman Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) also earned a double-double, setting season-best marks in both assists (27) and digs (17), and fellow rookie Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) had 14 assists and 10 digs for a double-double of her own.  Also of note, sophomore Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) had 17 kills, and redshirt-junior Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) had five kills, an ace, and a team-best four blocks.

The Tribe won the first two sets handily, stepping on the gas pedal in the first set and not letting up to a 25-13 win.  Koleva had five kills in the set, while Stanciauskas and Brickerd had four each and Grand Pre three.  In the second set, W&M withstood a late JMU rally to win 25-19, as Koleva and Brickerd again had five kills and four kills, respectively.  After the intermission, though, the visitors rallied to take the third and fourth sets and made a late push in the fifth to win that as well.

William and Mary heads back out on the road next weekend for the final two matches of the regular season.  The Tribe will play at Hofstra at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, and continue on to Northeastern for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday.