The William & Mary volleyball team fought hard for the second match in a row on Friday night, coming up just a few points shy against host Belmont, 3-0, in the second game of the Bruiser Showcase tournament.  The Tribe moves to 1-4 on the year, while the Bruins remained undefeated at 5-0.

"I'm proud of this team for not giving up and for battling with a great Belmont team," said head coach Melissa Ferris after the match.  "I asked them to make changes technically and they did a good job of doing that.  Moving forward we have to be more consistent in all facets of our game, and I know that we will work hard to achieve that."

"Tomorrow will be another great test for us, and I'm looking forward to taking our next step and getting stronger as a team."

The Green and Gold showed amazing resilience, battling back from deficits in both the first and third sets to push Belmont to the brink in both frames.  Top honors went to freshman Casey Foote (Prospect, Ky.), who hit .400 with six kills and no errors, and also added a team-best eight digs and a block.  Junior Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) matched her on offense with six kills of her own, while Heather Pippus (Lake Oswego, Ore.) had five kills, a block, and seven digs.

Also of note, junior Paige Humphrey (Oak Hill, Va.) took sole possession of first place on the team with two more blocks, raising her season total to 14, and sophomore Katie Primatic (Pittstown, N.J.) had three kills and another block.  Freshman setter Autumn Brenner (McLean, Va.) had 17 assists, five digs, and both an ace and a block, and senior libero Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.) chipped in with six more digs.

William & Mary wraps up the weekend on Saturday afternoon, taking on Mercer (1-1 on Friday) at 12 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Central.