WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary volleyball team opens its home schedule with the Colonial Classic this weekend from Sept. 7-8. The Tribe starts the tournament against Savannah State on Friday, Sept. 7 at 7 pm, before finishing the weekend against Eastern Michigan (1 pm) and Norfolk State (7 pm) on Saturday, Sept. 8.
Scouting the Tribe
W&M (2-4) gained its first couple of wins at the Hokie Invitational last weekend. The Green and Gold fell to ACC member Virginia Tech in straight sets, before ending the tournament with back-to-back four-set wins over Robert Morris and Campbell…Junior
Casey Foote stabilized the backcourt with an outstanding 4.73 digs per set in earning All-Tournament honors…Senior
Heather Pippus also gained All-Tournament accolades after producing a balanced effort of 24 kills and digs each, adding three aces.
Scouting the Tigers
Savannah State (0-5) seeks to snap a five-game skid at the Colonial Classic. The Tigers have been able to win two games in its first five matches of the year. SSU has lacked the ability to generate offense after exceeding 20 points three times in 17 sets. Their top player is junior defensive specialist Liz Domary Ortiz Munoz, owning a rate of 3.82 digs per set
Scouting the Eagles
Eastern Michigan (5-3) enters the Colonial Classic as the sole program with a winning record. The Eagles claimed three of its five victories in straight sets. So far, EMU excels defensively after holding opponent to a .151 hitting percentage and averaging 18.60 digs per set and 2.32 blocks per set. Senior Alyssa LaFace is 10
th in Division I with 6.13 digs per set, while sophomore April Houston leads the MAC in blocks (1.17 per set).
Scouting the Spartans
NSU (0-5) is the second team in the Colonial Classic field looking to capture its first win. The Spartans suffered four consecutive losses in straight sets at the Grovetown Classic, before falling to Hampton in four sets on Tuesday. Norfolk State is led by junior Bojana Bolozan. She has tallied 23 kills, 16 blocks and 10 aces over 16 sets.
Series History vs. Savannah State
W&M and SSU will face off for just the second time in series history on Friday night. Last year's meeting was the inaugural matchup between the programs. The Tribe defended home court with a sweep of the Tigers to take a 1-0 all-time series advantage. During the previous meeting, the Green and Gold held the Tigers under 20 points in the first two sets.
Series History vs. Eastern Michigan
W&M and EMU meet for the first time in 10 years on Saturday afternoon. The Tribe holds an all-time series lead of 2-0 over the Eagles. The previous meeting from 2008 saw the Green and Gold complete a three-set sweep. Before that, W&M rallied past EMU in five sets in 1989.
Series History vs. Norfolk State
The Hampton Roads rivalry between W&M and NSU extends to its 16
th meeting for the final match of the Colonial Classic. The Tribe has dominated the matchup with a 14-1 all-time series lead against the Spartans. The Tribe have won three in a row after losing to the Spartans for the first time in 2012.
Banner Performance
Sophomore
Julia Brown recorded the best outing of her career in leading W&M to its second straight win vs. Campbell. The Geneva, Ill., native drilled a career-high 18 kills in just 27 attempts with one error for the 10
th-best hitting percentage (.630) in program history. Her previous career-best in kills was 13 vs. Elon (10/25/2017).
Embracing New Role
Foote switched to the libero jersey this year and made it a seamless transition. She dove for at least 20 digs in her last two appearances. During a four-set win over Robert Morris, Foote recorded a career-high 25 digs. Last weekend's effort jumped her to ninth in the CAA with 3.33 digs per set.
Immediate Impact
In the second weekend of her collegiate career, freshman
Claire Farrell led the Tribe with 32 kills. She amassed the total in 74 attempts and committed only 13 errors for a .257 attack percentage. Farrell has generated 10-plus kills in four of her first six contest. Classmate
Madeleine Bertz also achieved a season-high in blocks. Bertz totaled six blocks versus Robert Morris, before topping that with eight against Campbell.
Milestone Alert
Senior
Katie Kemp needs five more assists to improve to 11th all-time in career assists in school history with 1,235. She is also 50 assists away from replacing
Anna Finley '93 as the 10
th-highest assist leader. Brown is three blocks away from ranking top ten all-time at W&M in the 25-point era.
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 quit the 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 professionally contracts during his six total years as an assistant. Additionally, Doyle bring Big Ten experience to Williamsburg following two years at Ohio State.
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.
