FAIRFAX, VA. - William & Mary fell 3-0 to Seton Hall Friday afternoon at the Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Va. With the loss, the Tribe falls to 4-5 on the season. Juniors Julia Brown and Kate Dedrick led the Tribe offensively with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Zeyanna Dhalla recorded her second career double-double with 13 assists and 11 digs while Anna Porter provided the Green and Gold with 22 digs. William & Mary will finish the non-conference portion of the schedule with a doubleheader tomorrow facing Wake Forest and George Mason. 
 
How It Happened
The Pirates took the first three points of the match on a Tribe error, and ace, and a kill, but W&M bounced back with a Lauren Merrill kill and a block from Kaitlyn Ferguson and Kate Dedrick. The Tribe would take their first lead of the match at 7-6 as Julia Brown smashed her third of five kills in the set. With the frame tied 10-10 the Pirates took nine of the next ten points to build a 19-11 lead and would cruise to a 25-18 victory. 
 
In the second set, the teams traded blows leading to an 8-8 count. The Pirates would take the next three for an 11-8 lead. Kills by Brown and Kate Dedrick would once again knot the frame 13-13. The match would once again be tied at 17-17 when Seton Hall would score a pair of points to take a 19-17 lead. The Tribe would not be able to recover as Seton Hall would take the second stanza 25-22. Lauren Merrill and Kate Dedrick each killed four balls in the set. 
 
A pair of kills by Kate Dedrick would help give the Tribe an early 5-4 lead in the third frame. After the Pirates tied the match at 6-6 a service error, kills from Brown and Merrill, and an ace from Porter would give the Tribe a 10-6 advantage. Later in the frame, Seton Hall would rally behind four straight points to take a 16-15 lead. Brown's 11th kill would give the Green and Gold a 19-18 lead late in the game and a pair of Pirate errors would extend the lead to 21-18. Seton Hall would take four of the next five points to tie the third frame 22-22. The Tribe took a 24-23 lead, but three straight points from the Pirates would give Seton Hall a 26-24 set win, and a 3-0 match victory. 
 
 
Inside the Numbers
Despite losing, William & Mary recorded 41 kills to Seton Hall's 36. The Tribe also had more blocks (68-61) and blocks (7-6) than the Pirates. With 12 kills Julia Brown reached double-digits for the fourth time in five matches. Brown hit .500 on the afternoon, her third time in four matches hitting above .440. Dedrick has recorded double-digit kills in three straight matches and five on the season. Anna Porter reached the 20-dig mark for the third time this season and led the Tribe in digs for the eighth time in nine matches. 
 
Notes
William & Mary fell to 4-3 all-time in matches against Seton Hall. Dhalla recorded a career-high 11 digs in the loss. Brown's six blocks tied her season-high, she also had six send-backs last weekend in a win against Iona. Kaitlyn Ferguson recorded her first two career aces. With 22 assists, Autumn Brenner is now just 14 away from the 2,000-career mark. 
 
Quotable
"I think we're all disappointed with the result. We didn't play well enough to win today. We have to respond and adjust better when it's time to make changed in-match. Our passing was decent, but our offense was sluggish and we didn't adapt well to what the block showed us. We have to individually and collectively improve on our mindset when we are down but not out and stay aggressive when able. We have two more chances this weekend to get our game right before conference," said Tim Doyle. 
 
Up Next
The Tribe will look to bounce back with a pair of matches tomorrow afternoon. William & Mary will take on Wake Forest at 1:30 p.m. before battling George Mason at 7:00 p.m. Live stats will be available for both matches and the 7:00 p.m. match will be available to stream on ESPN+.