The William & Mary volleyball team heads down south on Wednesday for a quick mid-week trip to Elon, taking on the Phoenix at 7 p.m.  With three weeks (six matches) left in the regular season, both teams are fighting for the sixth and final tournament spot, with a total of just two games separating the four squads in mix for the bid.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M is 8-15 on the year and 2-8 in the CAA, after taking on two league-leading teams last week.  Four starters are all hitting over .200 on the year, including senior Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) who leads the team with 2.53 kills per set.  Sophomore Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) has been tearing it up lately, with 3.04 kills per set and a .296 attack over the last seven matches.

Also of note, senior Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) is hitting a team-best .285 and also leads W&M with 0.89 blocks per set, and just surpassed 400 career stops last weekend.  Sophomore Sara Zumbach (Franklin, Tenn.) has re-entered the line-up with a team-best 3.61 digs per set, and Koleva is also high in her defensive average with 3.11 digs per set.

Scouting the Phoenix
Elon began the week at 5-19 overall and 1-9 in the CAA, with their only league win coming against W&M earlier this season.  Sydney Busa is the top offensive threat with 2.11 kills per set, and Ally Karle is also playing well with 1.91 kills per set.  Maddie Jaudon has 3.76 digs per set in the defensive back-court, but the Phoenix make most of their points at the net, with five players all averaging better than 0.5 blocks per set.  Karle is the top blocker, with 1.09 per set, and Catherine Head has 1.04 per set.

The Series
W&M leads Elon 4-2 all-time, but the Phoenix have won each the last two meetings, a 3-2 affair last October in North Carolina and a 3-1 decision two weeks ago in Williamsburg.

News and Notes
- Albright became just the fourth player in school history with 400 career blocks on Saturday at Towson, completing her march with two solo blocks and one block assist.  She joins Beth Ann Hull '89, Anna Agbe-Davies '93, and Caitlin Geraghty '06 as the only Tribe players to ever surpass 400 blocks, and needs just 10 more to pass Hull for third all-time.

- Heather Pippus (Lake Oswego, Ore.) was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 20, after leading the Tribe to a 1-1 record against Delaware and Elon.  She averaged 3.71 kills and 0.71 aces per set on the week against the two CAA foes.  Against Elon, she had 19 kills, nine digs, and two aces, the most kills for a Tribe freshman since 2011.

- Against JMU at home, Koleva became the third player in school history with 1,000+ kills and 1,000+ digs in her career, joining Hall-of-Famers Heidi Erpelding '89 and Jennifer Torns '92 as the only players in school history with the "double-quadruple."  Koleva is also just the ninth player ever to surpass 1,000 kills, and the first since Erin Skipper '11.

- Koleva was named to the all-tournament team at the AU Eagle Invitational, her third all-tournament honor in four events this season.

- At the ECU Pirate Invitational, both Koleva and Pippus earned all-tournament honors.

- Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) was named to the all-tournament team at Army, after leading W&M in kills, aces, and points on the weekend.

- Over the weekend at Army, Koleva became the eighth player in school history with 1,000+ digs in her career.

- After the season opening victory at the Tribe Invitational, W&M has now won five of its last eight home tournaments.

- Zumbach was named the MVP of the Tribe Invitational, while Koleva and Albright also joined her on the all-tournament team.

- W&M leads the CAA in returning all-conference players with three; Koleva, Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.), and Zumbach.

- Coach Shelton is just five wins away from 100 at W&M.  She was also the head coach at Virginia for 13 years, amassing 235 wins there.