The William & Mary volleyball team heads back out on the road this weekend, traveling west to Nashville for the Belmont Bruiser Showcase.  The Tribe takes on Georgia State and host Belmont on Friday, before finishing up against Mercer on Saturday morning.  Live stats are available for all three matches, and Friday night's match with Belmont will also be broadcast live on the OVC Digital Network.

Tournament Schedule
Friday, Sept. 2 - vs Georgia State - 10 AM Central (11 AM Eastern)
Friday, Sept. 2 - at Belmont - 6 PM Central (7 PM Eastern)
Saturday, Sept. 3 - vs Mercer - 11 AM Central (12 PM Eastern)

Scouting the Tribe
W&M went 1-2 at last weekend's Clemson Tournament, beating the host Tigers 3-2 in the opener before falling to Wofford and High Point by the same score.  Sophomore Heather Pippus (Lake Oswego, Ore.) was named to the all-tournament team with a spectacular stat line of 2.93 kills, 1.87 digs, 0.47 blocks, and 0.40 aces per set.  Freshman Autumn Brenner (McLean, Va.) also had herself a weekend and was named the CAA Rookie of the Week, after piling up 132 assists (8.8 per set) and 1.67 digs per set.  Senior Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) led the Tribe defense with 3.87 digs per set.

Scouting the Panthers
Georgia State began the season with a 2-1 week at JMU, sweeping North Carolina Central and Holy Cross and falling to the Dukes 3-1.  Balance is the name of the game for the panthers on offense, with four players all between 22 and 26 kills total, while on defense, the big name is Celeste Friesen who is averaging 4.90 digs per set.

Scouting the Bruins
Belmont went 3-0 at Memphis' tournament to begin the season last week.  Setter Emma Price (9.75 assists per set, 2.00 digs per set) was named the tournament MVP, and Arianna Person also earned a spot on the all-tournament team with 3.33 kills and 2.75 digs per set.  Brie Lewis is another strong attacker, with 3.25 kills per set.

Scouting the Bears
Mercer comes into the weekend at 1-2 on the year, defeating Charlotte but losing to Campbell and South Florida all but 3-1 scores.  They're another balanced squad, with four players ranging between 2.08-2.58 kills per set, including Emily Krogman who is also a prolific server with eight aces already.  Defensively, Tori Penrod patrols the backcourt with 5.33 digs per set, while Paige Alsten controls the net with 1.0 blocks per set.

The Series
- W&M defeated Belmont in their only previous meeting, 3-1 at W&M's own tournament in 2003.
- Georgia State is a familiar foe for Tribe fans.  The former CAA rivals are meeting for the first time since the Panthers left the league and the 14th time overall.  W&M controls the series 10-3, and won the most recent meeting 3-1 on the road in 2012.
- This will be the first-ever meeting between W&M and Mercer.

News and Notes
- The Tribe started the year with three-straight five-set matches for the first time ever.  It was only the seventh three-match stretch of its kind in school history, while the school record of four-straight five-set matches was set back in 1988.

- Brenner's 132 assists after the first weekend of play is more than five other entire teams in the Colonial Athletic Association.

- Brenner currently has the best single-match outing in the league with 52 assists (against Wofford), and also has all three of her matches ranked among the top-five performances in the CAA.

- Pippus scored 18 kills against both Wofford and High Point, just one shy of her career-high.  She is currently of just three players in the CAA to have hit 18 kills in a match this season, and one of just two to have done so twice.

- Sophomore Katie Primatic (Pittstown, N.J.) made nine blocks against Wofford, the most by any player in the CAA last weekend. 

- This weekend will be a homecoming for two Tribe players: junior libero Sara Zumbach (Franklin, Tenn.) and sophomore setter Katie Kemp (Brentwood, Tenn.).

- Melissa Ferris is in her first season as W&M's head coach, after a very successful 18 years as an assistant coach in Division I.  Her most recent stop was at Rice, where she spent 12 years.  Ferris is the eighth head coach in school history.

- W&M earned a perfect 1000 score in the APR last year, led by the classroom heroics of Pe and junior Maddie Sanford (Georgetown, Texas) who were both named to the W&M Provost's Award list (for having a GPA over 3.5).

- If Pe plays every scheduled match this season, she'll tie the Tribe's all-time record of 121 matches currently held by Jill Hannah '98.  She can hold the record outright if W&M makes the CAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

- W&M will begin the season at home on Sept. 9-10, hosting the Colonial Classic at Kaplan Arena.  W&M is 25-10 in home tournaments over the past decade, winning four championships including last season.