The William and Mary volleyball team got back on the winning track Tuesday night, downing Hampton 3-0 in the home opener at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe lifted its record to 2-2 on the year, while the Pirates suffered their first loss and fell to 3-1 overall.
Box Score
Junior Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) had the team's top arm on the night, scoring 15 kills on a .481 attack. She also served up three aces in a row in the first set, and added five digs and a block. Redshirt-sophomore Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) had nine kills and seven digs, and tied for the team lead with four blocks. Junior Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) was another with four blocks, pairing hers with eight kills and six digs.
Also on the team lead with blocks was junior Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.), with four kills and four blocks, and freshman Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.), who had three kills and four blocks. Classmate Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) continued her strong play to start the year with six kills on a .385 attack, and on defense, sophomore Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) had a match-high 15 digs and six assists. Rounding out the notables were the two setters, sophomore Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) with 21 assists, five digs, and two aces; and freshman Austyn Ames (Wichita, Kan.), who had 13 assists and three digs.
The entire match was a back-and-forth affair, with the teams combining for 35 ties and 15 lead changes. The first set alone had 18 ties and seven lead changes, as W&M fought its way to a 30-28 win. Brickerd served all three of her aces on successive points early to put W&M ahead 5-3, but neither team was able to get to even a three-point lead until Paul's ace made it 11-8. That would in fact be the biggest margin of the set. The Tribe had the first set-point, at 24-23 on a Hampton serving error, but the Pirates got two kills to swing the advantage their way and put W&M on the brink. A quick timeout settled the nerves, and Biniak came back with a kill to tie things at 25-25. Koleva picked up a big block on the following point, and the Tribe held the advantage the rest of the way through a kill by Brickerd and two more by Koleva.
Hampton controlled the pace of play early in the second, until a kill from Heath and a block by Heath and Albright put W&M ahead 14-13. Once again, that proved to be the crucial swing, and the Tribe never let the Pirates tie the score again the rest of the way. At the end of things, Albright and Heath combined again on a block to send the teams into the lockers at 25-22, and the Tribe ahead 2-0 in the match.
Hampton came out fast and hard again, getting ahead by as many as four in the third set at 10-6. The Tribe fought back, using the momentum from a failed Pirates serve and a kill by Koleva to ignite a 7-2 run and go ahead 13-12, on a block by Humphrey and Koleva and a kill by Humphrey. The final turn of momentum came a few volleys later, once again thanks to Michelle Heath and her final kill of the night that tied the set at 15-15. Biniak followed up with another kill, and the Tribe never trailed again. W&M finished the match on a 5-0 run, beginning with back-to-back kills from Koleva and an ace from Paul that forced Hampton to take its final time-out. That breather did no good, however, as Brickerd came back right away with her 15th kill of the match, and Koleva and Humphrey put the finishing touches on the 25-18 win with the team's 10th block of the night.
William and Mary is back in action this weekend, Sept. 5-6, at the Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Va. The Tribe will play East Tennessee State on Friday at 3 p.m., before facing Lehigh (10 a.m.) and host George Mason (2 p.m.) on Saturday.
