WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary volleyball team opens up the home portion of its schedule with a three-day tournament in the Colonial Classic on Sept. 1-3. The Tribe will start the event against Morehead State (Sept. 1, 7 PM), followed by matches against Savannah State (Sept. 2, 12:30 PM) and Davidson (Sept. 3, 11 AM).
TribeAthletics.com sat down with head volleyball coach
Melissa Ferris to discuss to team's first four matches and look ahead to its home opening tournament. The video feature is available through the above link or by clicking
here.
For access to the Colonial Classic schedule, live stats, video stream and box scores, visit the tournament central page by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
W&M heads into the weekend looking to improve on its 1-3 record. In its most recent outing, the Tribe battled against a VCU team that returned all of its starters from last year and fell 3-0. Senior
Sydney Biniak was one kill shy of reaching double-digits for the second consecutive match as she led the team with nine. Biniak has averaged 3.31 kill per set in the early phases of the year to rank ninth in the Colonial Athletic Association. Sophomore
Autumn Brenner also slots within the league's top 10 on 5.38 assist per set.
Scouting the Eagles
Morehead State is off to a 2-2 start this year. The Eagles won two out of three in its home tournament, before falling to Marshall in straight sets on Tuesday. As a team, MSU averages 11.4 kills per set, 14.1 digs per set and 1.9 blocks per set. The Eagles' biggest strength is their frontline and the presence of 6-3 middle blocker Maddie Fella. Fella is denying attacks at an 1.63 per set rate and posted a season-high eight total blocks against Youngstown State (8/25). Additionally, Chandler Clark has done an exceptional job dictating the offense as she is churning out 9.57 assists per set.
Scouting the Tigers
Savannah State enters the Colonial Classic sporting a 2-2 record. In its first 14 sets of 2017, the Tigers have managed just 8.1 kills per set, while surrendering kills at an 11.8 clip. SSU is led by Jennifer Rosado and Tyran Chenault. Rosado has collected a team-best 24 kills to compliment her block total of six. Chenault provides a defensive presence at the net as she owns a team-high 14 total blocks.
Scouting the Wildcats
Davidson represents the sole team with a record above .500 at 2-1. The Wildcats have had no issue generating offense in their season debut at the UNCW Invitational. As a team, Davidson owns a .227 attack percentage and has committed just 56 errors in 437 attempts. Mason Rooney headlines the starting lineup after recording a double-double and a triple-double during opening weekend. Rooney leads the team with 3.25 kills per set, while also dishing 5.17 assists per set.
Noteworthy
- W&M is undefeated in the all-time series with Davidson at 5-0. In their previous meeting, the Green and Gold rallied from a 2-0 deficit to pull off a five-set victory against the Wildcats last year.
- The Tribe's matchups with Morehead State and Savannah State will mark the first-ever meeting with both programs.
- The opposing teams in the Colonial Classic are a combined 6-5.
- W&M, Savannah State and Morehead State are all looking to bounce back from a mid-week setback.
- The Green and Gold is 28-10 in home tournaments over the past decade, winning five championships including last season.
- Biniak's All-Tournament nod at the East Carolina Invitational (Aug. 25-26) was the first of her career. She also improved to third-all time in the school's all-time kills list (725) in the current scoring era.
- Five of the six freshmen competed in all 13 sets to start the year.
- Freshmen Kate Dedrick made a splash in her debut for the Tribe at the ECU Invite. She collected 20 kills and six total blocks, assisting on five and making a solo effort.
- First-year player Lauren Moussaid also recorded her first career double-double (12 kills, 11 digs) in a 3-1 win over Georgia State. Classmate Julia Brown accumulated 17 kills and 10 total blocks last weekend.
- Rookie Taylor Heishman also turned in the best stat line of her young career against GSU. She made every attack attempt count after finishing 5-for-5 with no errors, while also contributing on a pair of blocks.
