WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary volleyball freshmen rose to the occasion in holding off a fierce Delaware comeback attempt for its first Colonial Athletic Association win, 3-2 (25-21, 25-20, 16-25, 11-25, 15-13), on Friday evening. The Tribe (5-8, 1-3 CAA) rookie class accounted for 69 percent of the offensive production in stopping the Blue Hens (6-11, 0-5 CAA).
 
The Tribe came out the gates on fire after blasting a .333 attack percentage in the first set. After Delaware created a 13-all tie, W&M rode the serve of sophomore Lauren Moussaid to a 6-0 run in taking a 19-13 advantage. Freshman Claire Farrell helped sophomore Julia Brown stop an attack, before spiking a kill to give the Tribe a 23-20 margin. A hammer from freshman Lauren Merrill provided set-point and a UD error concluded the opening frame.
 
The second set had five ties and three lead changes, before Moussaid landed an ace to put the Green and Gold ahead, 20-14. After a Delaware error granted the Tribe set-point, Merrill delivered the set-clinching kill for a 2-0 match lead.
 
Nonetheless, Delaware grabbed momentum after hitting .333 in the third set and an impressive .500 percent in the fourth set. The Blue Hens allowed just two ties and only one lead change across both periods.
 
The fifth set took a different direction as the score was tied nine times and the lead exchanged on five occasions. Rookie Anne Louise Seekford shined in the final stanza with four kills. Behind the swing of Seekford, W&M took a 12-10 lead down the stretch. However, the Blue Hens scored three unanswered points to force a Tribe timeout. Out of the break, UD committed an attack error, before Seekford blasted both match-point and the winner to complete a gritty victory.
 
Inside the Numbers
- Seekford paced the W&M offense via 10 kills and added eight digs.
- Merrill contributed a season-high nine kills, while also matching Seekford in digs.
 - Madeleine Bertz and Farrell rounded out the rookie barrage with eight kills each.
- Moussaid dove for a season-best 19 digs and junior Autumn Brenner dished out 23 of W&M's 43 assists. 

Notes
The Tribe gained its first five-set win of the year…Seekford reached a season-high in kills…Bertz recorded a .600-plus hitting efficiency for the second time this year…The Tribe improved its home record to 3-1...The matchup between W&M and UD has gone five sets for three consecutive meetings…Brenner is now just 37 assists away from moving to eighth all-time in program history…Merrill cracked the starting lineup for the second time this year...Brown posted at least three blocks for the fourth time in 2018.
 
Up Next
Quick turnaround for W&M as the Green and Gold host another league opponent in Towson tomorrow at 7 pm.