HARRISONBURG, Va. – Freshman Anne Louise Seekford generated a banner performance, but the William & Mary volleyball team came up just short in a 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 24-26, 25-18, 15-4) decision at CAA-leading James Madison on Friday night. Seekford led the Tribe (5-17, 1-12 CAA) with 16 kills, 13 digs and five blocks in a hard-fought effort against the Dukes (19-5, 11-2 CAA).
 
After dropping the first set, the Green and Gold floored 16 kills in the second frame to even up the match. W&M started game two with a pair of 4-0 runs in taking an 8-3 advantage. Sophomore Julia Brown and senior Katie Kemp combined on a block, before rookie Madeleine Bertz smashed a kill to stretch the Tribe lead to 20-12. The Dukes closed the gap to 23-19 following three unanswered points. Regardless, Seekford and freshman Lauren Merrill each pounded a kill to secure the frame.
 
W&M led by as many as nine points in the third set, before holding off a JMU rally to claim its first lead in the match. A blast from Farrell lifted the Tribe to a 19-10 lead, however, a 7-1 JMU run down the stretch tied the frame at 24-24. The Tribe maintained its composure and scored the last two points behind a Dukes' service error and hammer from Bretz.
 
Nonetheless, JMU rallied in the final two games to earn the comeback victory. The Dukes committed just three attack errors in the fourth and fifth sets, while also totaling 11 blocks. In the final frame, JMU scored seven straight points to end the match.
 
Inside the Numbers
- Seekford led all players with 16 kills.
- Kemp distributed a match-high 41 assists and added 11 digs for a double-double.
- Brown also clubbed double-digit kills with 13 and tallied four blocks.
- Sophomore Lauren Moussaid paced all players with a match and career-high 28 digs.
- W&M owned a 52-to-44 advantage in kills, but JMU out blocked the Tribe 23-to-9. 

Notes
Moussaid achieved a career-best in digs (28) … Moussaid recorded her previous personal-best at James Madison (Oct. 27, 2017) as well … Seekford registered her first-ever double-double, while Kemp notched her second of 2018 … As a team, the Tribe registered a season-high 72 digs … W&M pushed JMU to five sets in Harrisonburg, Va., for the second-straight season … Brown hammered double-digit kills for the sixth time this year.
 
Quotable
"I'm disappointed we lost, but I'm proud of how we played overall. I thought we set the tone of the match with how hard we went out of the gate and were able to sustain that momentum through sets two and three. We positioned ourselves to win and passed well in the fifth set when we had to, but just couldn't squeak kills through their blocks. We're not satisfied with losing - we'll use the tremendous effort and tenacity we had tonight to keep moving things forward." – head coach Tim Doyle
 
Up Next
The Green and Gold closes out its road schedule at Towson on Sunday at 1 p.m.