ELON, N.C.- William & Mary was bested in four sets by Elon Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Tribe to 2-6 in conference play. Kate Dedrick continued to be an offensive juggernaut with 16 kills in the contest. The Tribe will have a chance to bounce back with a road match at Hofstra next Saturday.
How It Happened
The first set opened up extremely tight wth the Tribe earning an 8-6 lead. Elon would charge back tying the game at 8-8 and again at 10-10. Kate Dedrick's third kill in the opening frame would give the Green and Gold a 13-12 advantage. The Phoenix would win four straight points to open up a 16-14 lead before a Kaitlyn Ferguson block put an end to the 4-0 run. A pair of kills from Lauren Merrill would knot the game at 17-17 and again at 18-18 before Dedrick's 200th kill on the season helped the Tribe to a 21-20 edge. The Tribe would hold on to the lead as Claire Farrell slammed her only kill in the set to seal a 25-23 win.
Farrell would start out hot for the Tribe in set two with a pair of quick kills and a block helping William & Mary to a 4-3 lead. Elon would respond with a 3-0 run to propel the Phoenix to an 8-6 advantage before the Tribe answered with a 3-0 run of their own to see-saw the set back in William & Mary's favor. Elon would take advantage of a few William & Mary mistakes to open up an 18-14 advantage, but a kill from Farrell and an ace from Dedrick would make it a one-point game. The Phoenix would win five of the final six points of the set to take game two by a 25-21 count.
Early in the third set, Kate Dedrick recorded her 10th kill of the afternoon, but it would be the Phoenix rushing out to a 7-5 lead. Lauren Merrill would record a pair of kills to tie the stanza 10-10, but a pair of errors and an Elon ace would give the Phoenix a 13-10 edge. They would extend the lead to 18-13, but the Tribe would rally to make it a 22-21 game before the Phoenix would close the door with a 25-22 win.
Kills by Farrell and Dedrick highlighted an early 3-0 run as the Tribe rushed out to a 5-3 lead, but Elon roared back to take a 10-7 edge. The Tribe would use a pair of kills from Dedrick to cut the lead to 11-10, but Elon would take six of the next seven points to open up a 16-11 edge. The Phoenix would cruise through the fourth set en route to a 25-14.
Inside the Numbers
Kate Dedrick led the Tribe with 16 kills in the match. It was Dedrick's third straight performance of at least 15 kills. Julia Brown put together a strong afternoon with eight kills hitting .312 on the afternoon. Once again Gabi Ganley led the Tribe with 13 digs. The freshman also added a career-high four assists. Lauren Merrill added 10 kills, her ninth double-digit kill effort this season which ranks second on the team behind Dedrick's 13. Kate Ferguson tied a career-high with six blocks in the match.
Notes
Midway through the first set Kate Dedrick recorded her 200th kill of the season. Later in the match Claire Farrell would record her 100th kill on the year. Autumn Brenner eclipsed the 500-assist mark on the season midway through the second frame. Today's match was the first time this season that the Tribe won the first set, but lost the match. William & Mary entered the afternoon 6-0 when striking first.
Quote From Doyle
I'm disappointed with the loss considering we failed to capitalize on the momentum we generated after winning a close first set and didn't respond well to how the match evolved. We must adapt more quickly and stay in it mentally, which I think we got tripped up on today. JB had a good match and provided a spark but we couldn't get enough contributions elsewhere and our serve receive faltered giving up some free points and helping their offense stay in system. We need to keep training resiliency in the practice gym as we have our toughest stretch of the CAA schedule coming up soon.
Up Next
It is another light week for the Tribe as the team's only match is an afternoon affair at Hofstra next Saturday. The Green and Gold will face Northeastern on Oct. 28 before returning to Kaplan Arena for a three-match home stand.
