WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary volleyball team will finish out its home schedule with a pair of Colonial Athletic Association matches against Northeastern and Hofstra this weekend. The Tribe welcomes the Huskies on Friday, Nov. 3 (7 pm), before holding senior day against the Pride on Sunday, Nov. 5 (1 pm). Each match will be broadcasted on Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet.
TribeAthletics.com met up with head coach
Melissa Ferris to discuss the five-set thriller at James Madison, senior class, and upcoming weekend matches. The video is available through the above link or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
W&M (5-21, 2-10 CAA) is coming off a dramatic week after splitting a pair of five-set matches. The Tribe overcame a 2-1 deficit to dispatch Elon (10/25) at home, before dropping the last three sets in a road loss at James Madison (10/27). Senior
Sydney Biniak finished last week with 39 kills (3.90 per set) to bring her season total to 374, which ranks 33
rd in the NCAA. Another noteworthy effort includes junior
Heather Pippus registering back-to-back double-doubles as she totaled 26 kills and 28 digs.
Scouting the Huskies
Northeastern (16-9, 9-3 CAA) concluded its home schedule last weekend with a 1-1 mark. The Huskies downed Delaware in straight sets, but was dealt their third CAA loss in a four-set affair against Towson. After opening league play with eight consecutive wins, NU has gone 1-3 in its last four outings. The Huskies have three different players ranked top three in the CAA individual leader standings. Gabrielle Eyl paces the conference with 5.67 digs per set, Gabrielle Tschannen slots second behind 1.20 blocks per set and Amy Underdown's 3.82 kill per set stand third-best. Underdown also ranks second in points (4.36 per set) and third in aces (0.37 per set).
Scouting the Pride
Hofstra (15-11, 7-5 CAA) wraps up the season with four consecutive road games, starting with Elon and W&M this week. In its final pair of home contest, the Pride fell to Towson (10/27) in straight sets, but earned a sweep against Delaware (10/29) last weekend. The Pride have been led all season by its sophomore duo of Luisa Sydlik and Laura Masciullo. Sydlik commands the offense with a CAA second-best 11.18 assist per set, and Masciullo is her top target as she averages a team-high 3.74 kills per set.
Series History
- W&M and Northeastern will meet for the 27
th time in series history on Friday evening. The Huskies hold a 16-10 all-time series lead and have claimed the last three matches. The series is deadlocked at 6-6 when the programs square off in Williamsburg. In this year's first meeting, NU hit .248 to top W&M in straight sets.
- The Green and Gold will take on Hofstra for the 44
th time in series history on Sunday afternoon. The Pride leads the all-time series with a 25-18 ledger. During the last time out, the Tribe attempted to rally from a 2-0 deficit, but came up just short in the five-set loss.
Senior Day
Prior to the start of Sunday's contest with Hoftsra, W&M will recognize its seniors for their commitment and dedication to the sustaining the values and traditions of Tribe Volleyball. This year's class comprises of
Austyn Ames,
Sara Zumbach and Biniak.
Stepping Up On Defense
The Green and Gold produced its best defensive stretch of the season last week. W&M tied its season-best in digs with 92 (18.40 per set) in back-to-back matches, while also totaling double-digit blocks on both occasions. As a result, the Tribe held Elon to a .192 attack percentage, before limiting James Madison to a .110 hitting rate. The back court was paced by freshmen
Katie Turner and
Lauren Moussaid. Turner exceeded 20 digs in consecutive (4.80 per set) contests for the first time in her young career, including a season-high 27 versus the Phoenix. Moussaid finished the week averaging 3.90 digs per set and recorded a season-best 23 at JMU. At the net, rookie
Denisha Shaw totaled 12 blocks (1.20 per set), while classmate
Julia Brown contributed nine more stops (0.90 per set).
Biniak Attack
Biniak continues to build a solid case as one of the best volleyball players to ever put on a Tribe uniform. Besides ranking eighth all-time in total kills (1,056), she also jumped to a ninth-place tie in school history for most kills (374) in a season. With four matches remaining, Biniak is on track to become the fifth W&M player to record 400 kills in a year. However, the single-season heroics don't stop there. The Elkridge, Md., native became just the third player to exceed 400 points after scoring 21 at James Madison. Her historic season is made possible through producing double-digit kills on 20 occasions and registering a program's sixth-best 3.82 kills per set.
Getting to Know Moussaid
In this week's Getting to Know feature, TribeAthletics.com met up with Moussaid to discuss her rookie season and learn about her interest outside of volleyball. The video piece is available below or by clicking
here. The Allen, Texas, native ranks second on the team with 198 digs (2.91 per set). In her 20 appearances, she posted 10-plus digs nine times and earned a pair of double-doubles.
