Box Score The William & Mary volleyball team rallied late, and a strong service game led the Tribe past Western Carolina 3-2 on Friday night in the first match of the ECU Pirate Invitational.  W&M evened its ledger at 4-4 with its first five-set win of the year, while the Catamounts fell to 3-6 overall.

Box Score

Leading the way for W&M, and for all players on the night, was freshman Heather Pippus (Lake Oswego, Ore.) who had 14 kills to go with eight digs.  Senior Dessi Koleva (Torrance, Calif.) made a double-double of 11 kills and 14 digs, and also added a pair of blocks to the cause.  Sophomore Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.) had eight kills to go with five blocks, and senior Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) had another seven kills.

The offensive explosion was created by stellar play from the setters, as junior Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) had 23 assists and 11 digs, and also dished out four service aces.  Sophomore Austyn Ames (Wichita, Kan.) made a double-double of her own with 14 assists and 10 digs.  Libero Sara Zumbach (Franklin, Tenn.) nearly got there, as her match-high 19 digs went with seven assists, and a career-best three aces on the night.

W&M steamrolled its way through the first two sets, winning 25-13 and 25-16 while hitting .329, but the Catamounts were able to claw their way back in after the intermission, winning the third and fourth sets to force the tiebreak.  That fifth set proved to be a microcosm of the whole match, with the Tribe leading early, WCU fighting back into the lead, and then the Green and Gold rallying to claim victory.

Koleva had a pair of kills and a block alongside classmate Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) to lead W&M out to a 4-1 lead, which continued out at 6-3 on a kill from Albright.  The Catamounts returned fire with a kill and then three straight blocks, forcing a W&M timeout at 7-6 WCU, and then added insult to injury with another kill to go up 8-6.  That would be as bad as it got, however, as Pippus scored a kill and then Humphrey collaborated on a pair of blocks, first with Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) and then Koleva, and gave W&M the 9-8 edge at a timeout.

The teams tied up at 9-9 and 10-10, before WCU sailed an attack wide of the mark and put W&M ahead for good, 11-10.  That brought freshman Katie Kemp (Brentwood, Tenn.) back onto the court, and she promptly dished out two service aces to go ahead 13-10 and force another Catamount timeout.  The pause didn't help any, as another attack went awry for WCU, and then Kemp finished the night with her third ace to win the match.

William & Mary has a quick turnaround tomorrow, facing Hampton at 10 a.m. in the Tribe's second match of the tournament.