TOWSON, MD.- William & Mary volleyball fell in the season finale to Towson 3-1 Sunday afternoon. The Tribe took the opening set but was unable to slow down Towson in the final three frames. With the loss, the Tribe finishes 2019 7-20 with a 3-13 league mark. Towson became the first team to ever go 16-0 in CAA play. Junior Kate Dedrick was dominant all afternoon leading all players with 21 kills.
 
How It Happened
The Tribe came out strong in the first set as a block from Julia Brown and a pair of Claire Farrell kills pushed the team to a 7-4 edge. The Tigers rallied to tie the game 7-7 before Kate Dedrick put the Tribe back on top with a kill. Later in the frame, Claire Farrell would have back to back blocks and Lauren Merrill crushed a kill to open up a 14-9 lead. Towson would tie the score at 18-18 before kills from Kaitlyn Ferguson and Dedrick would help the Tribe take the next three points. The Tribe would never trail as a block from Brown and Farrell would seal a 25-22 set one win.
 
Despite Anna Porter's set-opening ace, Towson would take early control of the second set with a 7-2 lead. Later the Tigers would use a 4-0 run to break open a 12-5 advantage. The Tribe used a 3-0 push of their own to claw back into the set, but Towson would run away with a 25-13 second set win to tie the match. 
 
The teams traded points in the early part of the third set leading to a 4-4 tie. The Tribe opened up a 7-6 lead behind a pair of kills from Ferguson and Dedrick but Towson would take control with a 4-0 run. A 3-0 Towson run would put the Tribe in an 18-13 hole, but Dedrick's 10 kill of the afternoon and a block from Merrill would help the Tribe narrow the gap. The Tigers would win six of the final seven points of the third to take the set 25-19. 
 
The fourth set began with the teams trading blows with no team getting separation of more that one point until Towson took a 10-8 lead. Julia Brown's sixth block of the day brought the Tribe back to even with the Tigers, 11-11 but five of the next six points would go to Towson as the home team opened a 16-12 lead. Kate Dedrick starred in the final frame with eight kills, but it was not enough as Towson took a 25-18 set for a 3-1 win. 
 
Inside the Numbers
Kate Dedrick tied a career-high with 21 kills while hitting .362. It was the seventh time this season Dedrick had at least 15 kills the 11 time the junior hit over .300 in a match. Julia Brown and Claire Farrell each had a team-high five blocks in the afternoon. It was the 15 time this season that Brown reached the five-block mark. Anna Porter finished with 11 digs in the season finale and will finish with 310 on the season. In her final match in the Green and Gold, Autumn Brenner dished out 38 assists and added nine digs and a pair of blocks. 
 
Stories from the Season
Dedrick finishes the 2019 season with 296 total kills, the most in her career. With nine digs on the afternoon, Dedrick reached 105 which is also a career-high. Julia Brown finished the 2019 campaign averaging 1.16 blocks per set, the best by any William & Mary player since 2010. Brown finished with a .326 hitting percentage which is the best mark by a Tribe player since the 2005 season. With 777 assists in her senior season, Autumn Brenner will leave William & Mary with the fifth most assists (2,567) in school history. Anna Porter became the first Tribe freshman to average 3.30 assists per set or higher since 2010 and just the second William & Mary first year to reach the 300 since 2010. Porter led all CAA-freshmen in digs and digs per set.