WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary volleyball team battled tough against CAA rival Elon, but came up just short in a 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23) setback on Sunday afternoon. The Phoenix (9-9, 1-6 CAA) finished with a 12-to-3 advantage in aces to outlast the Tribe (5-11, 1-6 CAA).
After taking the second set to even the match, Elon held a 22-20 lead late in the third period. A service error granted the Tribe a side out, before sophomore
Julia Brown made a solo stop to even the frame at 22-all. However, the Phoenix scored three consecutive points to take game three.
In the fourth set, the Tribe rallied from a six-point deficit in a strong attempt to force a game five. Down 10-4, W&M rode the serve of freshman
Claire Farrell to a 7-0 run in grabing a 11-10 advantage. After Elon took a one-point lead, freshman
Lauren Merrill and sophomore
Kate Dedrick drilled a kill each, before rookie
Madeleine Bertz stuffed an attack, putting W&M back on top at 20-18.
The Phoenix then answered with a 5-1 spurt to reclaim the lead, 23-21, and force a Tribe timeout. Out of the break, senior
Katie Kemp dished an assist to Farrell and Elon committed an error, but the Phoenix managed to squeak out the last two points to seal the match.
Inside the Numbers
- Brown led all player with 18.5 points via 13 kills (.333 hitting percentage) and seven blocks.
- Merrill finished the match with a double-double after recording a match-high 16 kills and 13 digs.
- Dedrick and Farrell hammered 11 kills apiece.
- Kemp filled up the box score with a match-high 49 assists, three blocks and five digs.
- Sophomore
Lauren Moussaid paced the entire court with 23 digs.
- W&M held the advantage in total kills 55-to-48, while Elon owned a 12-to-10 margin in blocks.
Notes
Brown made the 11
th most single-match solo blocks (4) in school history…Moussiad tied her career-best in digs…Merrill generated the first double-double of her young career…Kemp notched a 2018-best in both assists and blocks…The Tribe saw four different player reach 10-plus kills for the first time this year.
Up Next
The Tribe won't have much time to reflect with a trip to UNCW on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 5:30 pm, starting a three-match road swing.
