Despite a spirited effort, the William and Mary volleyball team suffered a 3-1 setback to a 24-win Towson team on Friday night at Kaplan Arena. After dropping the opening set, 28-26, W&M won the second set, 25-18, but the Tiger took the match with win the final two sets, 25-23 and 25-18.
Junior Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) led W&M with 12 kills and 23 digs, while sophomore Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) added nine kills. Both players totaled four blocks as the Tribe racked up 13 as a team. Freshman Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.) and junior Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) led the Tribe block with seven and six total rejections, respectively. Humphrey also added eight kills, and Albright chipped in six.
Sophomore Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) had a team-high 22 assists and picked up a double-double with 10 digs, and classmate Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) added in 16 assists and seven digs. On defense, freshman Sara Zumbach (Franklin, Tenn.) added 14 digs to the team total, and redshirt-sophomore Jenna Strange (Leesburg, Va.) made a career-best 12 digs and an ace. Freshman Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) rounded out the notables with four blocks on the night.
The Tribe dropped a close, back-and-forth first set that featured 15 ties and six lead changes. Back-to-back blocks followed by a Jenna Strange ace gave W&M a 13-10 lead midway through the opening set. The Tribe lead reached five, 16-11, before Towson rallied to pull even. Three straight kills from Haley Pa'akaula tied the opening set at 17.
An Aimee Schubert ace gave the Tigers their first lead since 8-7 at 22-21, before W&M ripped off three straight points to get to set point. As part of the sequence, Humphrey had back-to-back kills and added a combined block with Brickerd. Towson responded with three points of its own to gain the advantage back. W&M fought off a pair of set points, before Towson won the final two points in claiming the opening set, 28-26. Koleva and Humphrey each had four kills in the first set, while Koleva added a set-high nine digs. As a team, W&M had six blocks, including four assisted blocks from Humphrey.
The Tribe roared out of the gates in the second set as four early blocks lead to a 6-3 advantage. The Green and Gold onslaught continued in the second set as six straight points, including a pair of kills from Humphrey, extended the margin to 14-4, forcing a Towson timeout. Back-to-back Brickerd kills pushed the lead to as much as 18-6.
The Tigers pulled to within 20-15 following back-to-back aces from Saitaua Iosia, forcing a W&M timeout. Towson whittled the lead down to 22-18, before the Tribe won the game's final three points, including a kill from Liz Brown (Ellicott City, Md.), to tie it at a set apiece. Brickerd and Humphrey highlighted the second set with three kills apiece, Carolyn Albright assisted on a trio of W&M's four blocks.
Towson jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the third set, but W&M battled back and eventually pulled even at 11 on three straight kills from Brickerd, Koleva and Brown. The set continued its back-and-forth style with neither team taking a lead larger than one, before two straight points from the visitors put the Tigers on top 21-19.
A Brown kill and a solo block from Albright as part of as part of a three-point spurt gave W&M a 22-21 cushion. With the set tied at 23, Towson won the final two points on a Lindsay Flaherty kill and a Tribe error to take the 2-1 lead. Koleva led the Tribe with four kills, while Towson's Saitaua Iosia had a set-high seven kills. Brickerd and Brown each added three kills as well for the Green and Gold.
In the fourth set, W&M took the early lead, 5-3, behind a Brickerd and Humphrey block and a Koleva kill. Five straight points from Towson, including three consecutive Victoria Williams gave the visitors a 9-6 lead. The Tribe drew to within 11-10, but Towson responded with a run of its own. Winning five of the set's next six points, Iosia recorded three kills to push the Towson lead to 16-11. A Koleva kill drew W&M within 18-16, but the Tigers won seven of the set's final nine points to claim the victory.
W&M closes out the home portion of its schedule on Saturday night when it welcomes Delaware to Kaplan Arena for Senior Day at 7 p.m. W&M will honor its senior class of Liz Brown and Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) on the evening.
