The William & Mary volleyball team closed out the Big Orange Bash tournament on Saturday evening with its third-straight five-set match, the second in the span of 10 hours, and took High Point to the brink before narrowly falling, 3-2.  The Tribe, who opened the year with three five-set matches for the first time ever, moved to 1-2 on the year with the loss, while the Panthers improved to 2-1 and a second-place finish in the tournament behind the hosts, Clemson.

As had been the case all weekend, W&M's young team produced several outstanding individual performances.  Sophomore Heather Pippus (Lake Oswego, Ore.) recorded her second double-double of the day with 18 kills (again for the second time), 10 digs, and a pair of blocks.  Pippus also tied her career-high with three service aces, and ranks ninth in the CAA in kills per set (2.93) after the opening weekend.  Freshman Casey Foote (Prospect, Ky.) continued her strong first collegiate outing with 13 kills, six digs, and two blocks, and classmate Alex Stein (East Setauket, N.Y.) cleared double-digit kills for the second time with 10 and a block.

Junior Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.) kept gaining steam on the defensive end as the tournament progressed, and she finished with her best match of the weekend with a match-high six blocks along with seven kills, and tied her career-high with a pair of solo stops.  Senior Kristen Larrick (Bethesda, Md.) made her first start of the year, and responded with five blocks and six kills.

Away from the net, freshman setter Autumn Brenner (McLean, Va.) wrapped up her weekend with 41 assists, 13 digs, three blocks, and a pair of aces.  Fellow rookie Samantha Conway (Mechanicsville, Va.) cleared 11 digs off the floor and had three more aces, and senior Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) scooped up a match-high 24 digs to improve to ninth overall in the CAA with 3.87 digs per set.

William & Mary is back in action next weekend, traveling west to the Belmont Bruiser Showcase in Nashville, Tenn.  The Tribe will face both Georgia State and Belmont on Friday, Sept. 2, before closing the tournament against Mercer on Saturday.