The William and Mary volleyball team continued to roll Saturday morning, downing Lehigh 3-1 in the second game of the Patriot Invitational in Fairfax.  The Tribe improved to 4-2 on the year, while the Mountain Hawks fell to 3-4 overall.

Box Score

Defense took center stage for W&M in the match, with the Tribe collecting 17 total blocks, the eighth-best  total in four sets in school history, as well as 95 digs (11th-most in four sets).  Both numbers are the best in a match since 2009.  The digs parade was led by sophomore Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.), who had 25 more digs to raise her season average to 4.33 per set.  Pe was one off the career-high she set last night against ETSU, and also had another service ace.  Freshman Sara Zumbach (Franklin, Tenn.) came off the bench again, and had five digs and an ace as well.

In blocks, the team was led by freshman Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.), who had nine blocks to go with seven kills and a .400 attack.  Classmate Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) was right beside her for most of those, scoring eight blocks in addition to five kills.  Junior Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) continued to be a steady presence at the net, and had six blocks to go with eight kills and a .400 attack.  Directing the offense once again was the setting pair of Stephanie Paul (North Bethesda, Md.) and Austyn Ames (Wichita, Kan.).  Paul had 21 assists and eight digs, while Ames made a season-high 22 assists and 12 digs to go with an ace.

Offensively, the team was led by redshirt-sophomore Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.), who had another double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs to go with three blocks.  Junior Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) added seven kills and eight digs along with three  more blocks, and classmate Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) had seven kills of her own, as well as 12 digs, two aces, and a block.  Freshman Maddie Sanford (Georgetown, Texas) had three kills and two digs, and redshirt-sophomore Jenna Strange (Leesburg, Va.) chipped in with a pair of blocks.

After Lehigh took the first set, 25-21, they came out fast in the second set with a 3-0 lead while the Tribe was still fighting the effects of Friday night's five-set marathon.  However, the Tribe was ready to take charge, and went on a 9-2 run to blow open the set and never let the Mountain Hawks get closer than three points the rest of the way to a 25-18 win.  Heath had four kills in the set, while Humphrey had three kills and four blocks.

The third set, at least early, looked like W&M was on its way to another see-saw five-setter, with Lehigh going up as many as three at 19-16.  The Tribe kept the faith and kept working, currting the lead to one on an ace from Ames (19-18) and again on a kill from Biniak (20-19).  Finally, down 21-19, the Green and Gold ignited for a 6-1 run to come from behind and take the set.  Koleva tied the match at 21-21 with a kill and a Lehigh timeout, then an ace from Pe and a Mountain Hawks error put the Tribe in front 23-21 and forced another timeout.  A kill from Albright gave the Tribe set-point at 24-22, and Lehigh was unable to keep their attack in-bounds to deliver the win.

The fourth set was the Tribe's to run away with, going on a 8-0 run that broke open the match and put W&M on top 16-6.  The run included two kills from Humphrey and two blocks from Humphrey and Strange.  The lead stretched as high as 11, 20-9, on another block from Biniak and Humphrey and a kill by Heath, before Lehigh was able to make a small run late to make the final score more respectable.  Sanford had the final three kills for W&M, putting the capper on the 25-16 win.

Winners of three straight, William and Mary will play again this afternoon against host George Mason, beginning at 2:45 p.m.