The William & Mary volleyball team closed out the Colonial Classic with a sweep of in-state rival Norfolk State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-19) on Saturday night in Kaplan Arena. With the win, W&M improves to 4-5 overall, while the Spartans fall to 0-8.
 
Sophomore Kate Dedrick (Plano, Texas) paced the Tribe with 16 kills in the contest. Freshman Anne Louise Seekford (Leesburg, Va.) just missed a double-double with eight kills and nine digs.
 
In the first set W&M, raced out to an early 11-4 lead, but the Spartans rallied back in took a 23-22 lead late in the set. However, the Tribe had the last laugh as it regrouped and scored the last four points of the set. A pair of kills from Seekford matched with a Norfolk State attack error gave the Tribe the first set, 25-23.
 
Trailing 18-16 in the second set, W&M rallied for nine of the final 12 points to claim the second set. W&M took advantage of six Norfolk State errors, but had a service ace from freshman Claire Farrell (Alexandria, Va.), and kills from her classmates Macy Cummings (Denver, Colo.) and Seekford to win the set 25-21.
 
Again after a back and forth open to the third set, W&M responded with a big run to put the match to bed. Leading 17-15, W&M used a 4-0 run to put some distance on the Spartans. The Tribe sandwiched a pair of Kate Dedrick kills around a pair of Norfolk State errors to push its cushion to 21-15. The Spartans crawled within 21-19, but the Tribe scored four straight points, including an ace from Seekford to secure the victory.
 
For their outstanding work throughout the weekend, both Dedrick and Farrell were named to the all-tournament team.  Dedrick ranked second among all players in the event with 3.33 kills per set, and also ranked third in points (3.61 per set).  Farrell, meanwhile, ranked second in the tournament with a stellar .417 hitting percentage, and was averaging 3.0 kills per set (fourth in the field) through the first two matches before she was thrust into service as a libero in the finale, where her 2.67 digs per set average would have ranked her sixth overall.
 
Inside the Numbers
- W&M hit .141 for the match, but used a .258 hitting percentage in the third set to secure the victory.
 
- The Tribe had seven service aces in the contest, including a match-high three from freshman Anne Louise Seekford
 
- The Green and Gold also had 34 assists on 36 kills, led by Katie Kemp (Brentwood, Tenn.) with 17 and Autumn Brenner (McLean, Va.) with 16.
 
Notes
Freshman Anne Louise Seekford recorded a career-high eight kills in the contest … Sophomore Kate Dedrick tied her season-high with 16 kills in the contest, while setting a season-high with seven digs … Freshman Macy Cummings matched her career-high with seven digs … W&M now leads the all-time series with Norfolk State 15-1.
 
What's Ahead
W&M will hosts its second Colonial Classic next weekend at Kaplan Arena welcoming Morgan State, Lehigh, and East Carolina to Williamsburg. The Tribe opens the tournament by playing Lehigh on Friday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. The Green and Gold concludes its non-conference tournament schedule with Morgan State and East Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 15. Those matches are set for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. All three of the Tribe's matches next weekend will be streamed for FREE and in HD on TribeAthletics.TV.