WILLIAMSBURG, Va.- William & Mary volleyball fell in three sets to CAA-leading Towson Friday evening at Kaplan Arena. The loss dropped the Tribe to 5-11 on the season and elevated the Tigers to a 15-2 mark. William & Mary will have two more shots at conference wins in the upcoming days hosting James Madison tomorrow and facing Delaware on Monday. 
 
How It Happened
Towson roared out to an 8-1 lead in the opening frame behind a seven-point run. Late in the set Autumn Brenner would feed Kate Dedrick for a kill. The assist was the fifth of the game for Brenner and moved her into fifth place in William & Mary history with 2,133 assists. Despite the milestone, the Tribe fell 26-16 in the opener. 
 
The second set was hotly contested seeing eight ties and two lead changes. Brenner had an unbelievable second tossing out 16 of her 25 assists as the Tribe hit for 17 smashes in a 25-23 loss. Claire Farrell had six kills in the stanza and Lauren Merrill added five. Julia Brown and Kate Dedrick each dropped three-point enders in the set. 
 
Towson never trailed en route to a 25-14 final set win. The Tribe could not get the offense going in the third set, but Julia Brown provided a pair of blocks and Gabi Ganley was impressive with four digs. Merril was the Tribe's go-to player with three kills on six attempts. 
 
Inside the Numbers
In the second set the Tribe hit .317 as a team and knocked down 17 kills. Coming into tonight's match Towson ranked third in the NCAA allowing opponents to hit just .123 and holding their foes to a slight 10.5 kills per set. Autumn Brenner reached the 20-assist mark for the third straight match and the 13 time this season. Despite the loss, the Tribe outblocked the Tigers by a score of 6-1. 
 
Notes
Autumn Brenner now sits in fifth place in Tribe history with 2,154 assists. The senior has 417 through sixteen matches this season. 
 
Up Next
William & Mary will have another opportunity to pick up a crucial CAA win tomorrow night as they play host to rival James Madison. First serve between the Tribe and the Dukes is set for 6:00 p.m. and the first 100 fans will get a William & Mary swag bag and be entered to win a pair of airpods.