The William and Mary volleyball team made a huge rally in the fourth set Saturday night against Kent State, recovering from five points down to win the set and then go on to claim the fifth as well in a thrilling 3-2 victory.  The Tribe improves to 2-5 with the win, while the Golden Flashes fell to 1-5 on the season.

Box Score

After W&M had won the first set, 25-20, Kent State took the next two to stand on the brink of victory.  That feeling only intensified early in the fourth, as the Golden Flashes got ahead 11-5 and then 17-12.  The Tribe had only just begun to fight, however, winning four of the next five points and five of the final six to earn the come-from-behind, 25-22 victory that forced a fifth-set tiebreaker.  In that fifth set, with the score tied at 8-8, W&M used another 4-1 run to get well in front 12-9, and never let Kent State get closer than two the rest of the way to a 15-12 win.

The Tribe had a number of outstanding statistical performances, including from redshirt-junior Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.).  Once again at the libero spot, Grand Pre provided a career-best 33 digs, a total that is tied for seventh-most ever in school history, and fourth-most among five-set matches.  It was also the best single-match performance for W&M since All-American Lindsey Pflugner '10 had 34 against Georgia State in October of 2009.  For the weekend, Grand Pre averaged 6.06 digs per set (97 in 16 sets).

Also of note, sophomore Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) had a career-best 19 kills, hitting .289 in the process with three blocks.  Redshirt-freshman Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) and senior Alexandra Ciaccio (Houston, Texas) both reached the 15-kill mark, Heath while recording another double-double with 10 digs, and Ciaccio with two blocks and four digs in support.

Sophomore Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) continued her outstanding weekend as well, scoring seven kills (on a .333 attack) and seven blocks.  For the tournament, Albright had 23 blocks in 16 assists, an average of 1.44 per set.  Freshman Paige Lucas (Asheboro, N.C.) averaged over 10 assists per set for the second match in a row, with an even 50 in the victory to go with eight digs.  On defense, senior Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) had 12 digs, and freshman Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) chipped in 11 digs as well.

William and Mary is back out on the road next weekend, heading to Blacksburg to take part in the Hokie Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14.  On Friday, the Tribe will take on Duquesne, before facing Virginia Tech and Lipscomb on Saturday.