The William & Mary volleyball team put together several impressive plays and outstanding individual performances, but came up just shy of Elon on Saturday night, 3-1.  The Tribe moves to 8-13 overall and 2-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Phoenix improved to 4-17 (1-7 CAA).

Having herself a big night for the Tribe was freshman Heather Pippus (Lake Oswego, Ore.), who had a career-high 19 kills while hitting .350.  Pippus also added in nine digs and a pair of aces on the night.  Sophomore Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) had 11 kills and another two aces, and also chipped in on a pair of blocks.  Senior Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) led the Tribe with three blocks, and now stands just seven away from 400 in her career.  Albright also had eight kills, and hit .412 in the match.

Other notables included sophomore Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.), who hit .500 with five kills and a block, and senior Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) who also had five kills to go with 10 dig and a pair of blocks.  Freshman Katie Kemp (Brentwood, Tenn.) dished out 20 assists with eight digs and junior Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) was close behind with 17 assists and six digs.  Senior Jenna Strange (Leesburg, Pa.) had another ace for the Tribe, and classmate Olivia Jebb (Cornwall, N.Y.) pair five digs and five assists on the night.

After falling in a tight first set, 25-23, W&M came back strong in the second.  The Tribe jumped out early, 10-3, but the Phoenix came resurrected their hopes with a slow grind, cutting the deficit to one at 14-13.  Pippus stopped the run, and began a 6-1 run of her own to get back out 20-14.  The freshman had two kills and an ace in the streak, while Biniak accounted for the other three kills.  A block by Albright and Koleva put W&M ahead 22-17, and Humphrey recorded one of her kills to gain match-point before Pippus' seventh kill of the set finished things at 25-20.

William & Mary is on the road for the next three weeks, beginning with a trip out to JMU and Towson.  The Tribe plays at the Dukes on Thursday night at 7 p.m. and will head to Maryland to take on the Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m.