ELON, N.C. – The trio of Sydney Biniak, Heather Pippus and Kate Dedrick all registered double-digit kills as the William & Mary volleyball team made a late comeback attempt in a 3-1, (18-25, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25), final at Colonial Athletic Association rival Elon on Thursday evening. Biniak led the way with 15 kills, Pippus added 13 and Dedrick factored in on 12 more to pace the Tribe (2-15, 0-4 CAA) during its first conference road challenge.
 
After the Phoenix (12-6, 2-2 CAA) pulled away late in the first set, the Tribe improved its offensive production to keep it close in game two. Elon grabbed a 6-3 lead to start the period, but Dedrick crushed back-to-back kills to even the score at 13-all. Biniak slammed her sixth kill to keep it close, 19-18, but Elon took the second set courtesy of a 4-2 finish.
 
Elon began the third set with a three-point advantage, until W&M ignited a 5-0 jolt to claim a 17-16 margin. Biniak cashed in on her fifth kill of the frame to lift the Green and Gold to a 20-18 edge. Freshman Julia Brown then brought down the hammer, before Pippus connected on back-to-back kills for a 24-21 lead. The Phoenix closed the gap to 24-23, but committed an error to send the match to a fourth set.
 
In the fourth, Pippus scored a pair of points on a kill and ace, giving W&M an early 4-3 advantage. However, Elon gained separated behind five straight points to go up 15-10. The powerful swing of Biniak cut the deficit to 19-17, but the Phoenix sealed the contest with a 4-1 run.  
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Green and Gold generated a .387 attack percentage on 16 kills in 31 attempts with four errors to win the third set.
- Biniak, Pippus and Brown tallied four kills each in the second set. As a team, W&M committed a game-low three attack errors during the frame.
- Junior Katie Kemp recorded her third double-double of 2017 behind a team-bests in both 34 assists and 13 digs. It's also the seventh double-double of her career.
- The Tribe edged the Phoenix in blocks, 6-4. Pippus and Brown totaled three blocks apiece to led all players. The effort marked a season-high for Pippus, while Brown has now collected at least three stops on seven occasions.
- Both teams finished the match with four aces.
- Elon's Sydney Busa led all players with 22 kills and Kodi Garcia tallied a match-high 60 assists. As a team, the Phoenix closed out the contest with a .305 attack rate  

Notes
Biniak registered her second-best hitting efficiency (.462) of the season, committing just three errors in her 28 attempts, as she stretched her double-digit kill streak to 13 matches in a row…Senior Sara Zumbach made her first appearance of the season, chipping in eight digs in three sets of action… It's the second match this year the Tribe saw three players finish with 10-plus kills...Pippus tied her match-high in kills and scored a season-best 15.5 points…Brown served a pair of aces for the third time this season… Freshman Denisha Shaw appeared in her second consecutive match and made the most of it with three kills in five tries…Dedrick hit .300-plus in back-to-back performances…The Phoenix improved its slime all-time series lead, 6-4.
 
Quotable
"I'm really proud of this team. I think we are getting into a rhythm and are taking great steps forward. We need to continue to work on not allowing a lot of runs of points. I'm proud of their fight, determination and overall composure. The future looks bright for Tribe volleyball and we are all excited to watch it unfold." – Head Coach Melissa Ferris.
 
Up Next
The Tribe will take a week off, before travelling north to continue its conference slate against Northeastern and Hofstra. W&M will face the Huskies on Oct. 5 (8 PM) and pick it back up with the Pride on Oct. 7 (7 PM).