WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary volleyball team finishes out a three-match road swing at Elon on Wednesday, Oct. 24. First serve is slated for 7 pm at the Schar Center.
Scouting the Tribe
W&M (5-13, 1-8 CAA) is looking to snap a five-match skid after falling in straight sets to UNCW (10/16) and Delaware (10/19) last week. The best performances came from senior
Katie Kemp and sophomore
Lauren Moussaid. Kemp dished out 50 assists for a strong average of 8.33 per set. Moussaid reached 20 digs for second time this year versus the Seahawks and finished the week rating 5.50 per set.
Scouting the Phoenix
Elon (12-9, 3-6 CAA) is on a torrid stretch of four consecutive wins. Three of its last four victories occurred against conference rivals in recovering from an 0-6 start to CAA play. Senior Kam Terry continues to give opponents fits as she is blasting 3.99 kills per set. Classmate Maddie Jaudon is also reining CAA Defensive Player of the Week after recording 73 digs at a rate of 6.08 per set, 11 assists and four aces.
Series History vs. the Phoenix
W&M and Elon will meet for the second time this year and 13
th in series history on Wednesday night. The Phoenix hold a slight advantage of a 7-5 lead against the Tribe in all-time series history. Earlier this year (Oct. 14), Elon edged W&M by just 10 combined points during a four-set decision in Williamsburg.
Shining in CAA Play
Against UNCW, sophomore
Julia Brown registered a .300-plus hitting percentage for the fifth time against a CAA foe. The Geneva, Ill., native hammered 10 kills in 21 swings with just two errors for a .381 attack rate. Brown stands ninth in the association with a .309 attack percentage vs. CAA opponents.
Can You Dig It
Rookie
Lauren Merrill has been exceptional at preventing kills for the Green and Gold. She is on a streak of four consecutive matches with double-digit digs. Merrill tied her season-best 13 digs in back-to-back matches, before totaling 21 more across her last two appearances. The four-match stretch equates to an average of 3.62 d/s.
Ascending the Record Books
Junior
Autumn Brenner is on the verge of becoming the eighth-highest leader in all-time assists at W&M. The setter needs to dish out just 12 more assists (1,729) to move past Lori Price '97 in the record books. In the current scoring format, Brown is just four blocks away from improving to ninth in career blocks. Brown has made a team-high 43 blocks this year to improve her career total to 149.
Digging Doyle
The Tribe was able to nab a rising star in
Tim Doyle as he was selected to the 2017 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 list. Doyle built up an impressive resume before accepting his first head coaching opportunity at W&M. In four years at VCU, he helped the program capture 80 wins and make a 2017 NCAA Tournament appearance. He also mentored 13 all-conference selections and saw five players sign professional contracts during his six total years as an assistant.
Sideline Help
Doyle brought in high caliber assistants to help steer the program in a new direction. His first hire was former VCU standout
Janelle Sykes. She recently competed abroad in Azerbaijan and Belgium. Sykes is one the most elite middle blockers in Rams' history, ranking second all-time in blocks per set (1.21) and fourth in total blocks (345).
Colby Arrington was the second hire and he brings a championship pedigree from James Madison. Arrington spent three years on the JMU staff serving in various roles, most recently as the volunteer assistant. He was also a key member of the JMU nationally-ranked men's club volleyball program.
