The William and Mary volleyball team made several impressive and important steps Wednesday night, pushing UNCW to the brink in each o the first two sets before falling 3-0 at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe moves to 4-12 on the year and 0-2 early in the conference race, while the Seahawks improved to 12-5 (2-1 CAA).
Box ScoreW&M captain
Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) had her second-straight very strong performance, coming up with another double-double on a match-high 13 kills and 11 digs. She also hit .321 for the match, and had a pair of blocks to her credit as she came up with her fourth double-double of the season. Fellow junior
Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) had seven kills to go with three blocks, and senior
Liz Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) also had seven kills and a hand in one block.
Also of note on the statsheet, sophomore
Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) made 10 digs, and junior captain
Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) had a team-best five blocks to go with three kills. Freshman setter
Austyn Ames (Wichita, Kan.) dished out a match-high 21 assists, and sophomore
Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) added 16 more along with seven digs. Redshirt-sophomore
Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) had five kills, four digs, and a block; and freshman
Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.) had another block and five kills on a .333 attack.
The first two sets saw 10 tie scores each, including late in each frame. In the first, W&M kept close to the powerful Seahawks, producing ties at every point from 18-18 up to 23-23 before UNCW was able to put away the 25-23 win. In the second, the visitors threatened to run away early, jumping to a 12-4 lead to force a timeout. The Tribe came back on the court settled and resilient, running off on a 10-2 streak to tie things at 14-14. The run was kicked off by a kill from Humphrey, and also featured three blocks. Quick trade-offs of point for point followed from there, all the way up to 24-24, but the young Tribe team was unable to muster the final point against the seasoned UNCW squad who again claimed a two-point victory, 26-24. The Seahawks continued on from there, taking the third set as well to end the match at 3-0.
William and Mary continues its five-game homestand this weekend, hosting College of Charleston on Friday and Elon on Saturday. Both CAA matches from Kaplan Arena will begin at 7 p.m.
