Box Score The William & Mary volleyball team had its best offensive outing of the season on Tuesday night, falling to VCU in a 3-2 nailbiter on the road.  The Tribe evens its record at 2-2 on the year, while the Rams improved to the same mark.

Box Score

The Tribe set season-highs in kills, attack percentage, and assists on the night.  Key to the improved attack was the play by setters Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Katie Kemp (Brentwood, Tenn.), who combined for 51 of the team's 56 assists.  Pe had 26 helpers to go with six digs and three service aces, while Kemp added in 25 assists and seven more digs.

Redshirt-junior Michelle Heath (Rustburg, Va.) was the top target for Pe and Kemp, scoring 13 kills on a .308 attack.  She also had five digs, and an ace.  Senior Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) also reached 10 kills while hitting .348, pairing them with a team-best six blocks.

Freshman Heather Pippus (Lake Oswego, Ore.) had 10 kills as well, while seniors Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) and Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) each reached eight kills. Brickerd hit .333 while making two blocks, while Koleva had 10 digs, two blocks, and an ace.

Sophomores also made a mark, with Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.) hitting .455 with six kills and a pair of blocks.  Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) added in four kills, and libero Sara Zumbach (Franklin, Tenn.) had a team-high 13 digs to go with four assists, an ace, and a kill.

The match was tightly-contested the whole night long, starting in the first.  Through eight ties, the Tribe ran down the Rams whenever they threatened the separate, eventually catching and passing the host team at 21-20.  Albright and Heath turned in kills to help reach set point, and Pe hit the first of her three aces to clinch the frame at 25-21.

The second frame was even more topsy-turvy, with 11 ties and five lead-changes before VCU won 25-22.  The third saw the Rams jump out by their biggest lead of the night, 18-11, but the Tribe responded with a 7-1 run of its own to climb back within one, 19-18.  Pippus led the run, which also saw an ace from Zumbach and a pair of block that Albright helped on.  VCU went on to take the set, 25-23, but W&M turned the tables in the fourth.

The fourth was once again a thrilling back-and-forth affair, with 14 ties and five lead changes, the last when a block by Humphrey put the Tirbe up 19-18.  That didn't end the drama, however, with three more ties after that point.  Pippus and Albright combined for a block at two set points, 24-22, but VCU fought back to tie the set at 24-all.  W&M weathered the storm, and claimed the final two points to win 26-24 and force the fifth set.  In the tiebreaker, the Rams jumped out early, and although the Tribe was able to come back within one point at 10-9, the Green and Gold was unable to complete the comeback before the end was reached at 15-11.

William & Mary is back in action this weekend, traveling from one historic city to another for the Army Invitational at West Point, N.Y.  The Tribe plays twice on Saturday, Sept. 5, against Cornell and the hosts, before finishing the tournament against Iona on Sunday morning.