CINCINNATI, Ohio- William & Mary volleyball split a pair of matches Friday in Cincinnati at the Xavier Invite. The Tribe defeated Akron 3-0 in the morning session before falling by the same count in the afternoon to Wright State. Coach Tim Doyle's team is now 2-2 on the season and will face Xavier Saturday morning to wrap up the weekend. 
 
Autumn Brenner continued to impress in her senior campaign, recording a double-double in the team's opening match with 26 assists and 10 digs before dishing out 24 more assists in the afternoon affair. Junior Kate Dedrick had an efficient Friday hitting .400 against Akron followed by a .364 mark against Wright State. Anna Porter led the Tribe in digs in both matches and totaled 21 on the day.  
 
GAME ONE
How It Happened
After dropping the opening point of the morning match, the Tribe rattled off 10 straight points to take a 10-1 advantage over Akron. The cushion would be enough for William & Mary as the Green and Gold coasted to a 25-16 win behind five kills from Kate Dedrick. The second set was much closer as the teams battled to a 25-25 tie. Akron would take a 26-25 lead, but the Tribe would get two kills from Dedrick and take advantage of an Akron error to secure a 28-26 win. William & Mary would trail for much of the third frame before tying the score at 21-21. A service ace from Autumn Brenner would give the Tribe a 22-21 lead on the way to a 25-22 clinching win. 
 
Inside the Numbers
Kate Dedrick led all hitters with 12 kills and did so with a .400 hitting percentage. Autumn Brenner paced the Tribe with 26 assists. The senior now has 119 helpers on the season and 1,855 in her career. Brenner chipped in defensively with 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. Anna Porter dug 12 balls, continuing her streak of reaching double-digit digs in each of her three career matches. As a team, the Tribe held Akron to a .108 hitting percentage, the lowest of any opponent this season. 
 
Quotable
"We were really strong out of the gate on offense. We weakened at times throughout the match, but pulled through and played tough when the sets got close at the end," said Tim Doyle.
A 3-0 win requires consistent effort and I thought we played with great hustle and attention to detail. Kate Dedrick put away balls all day and Julia Brown scored at some really crucial times."
 
Notes
The Akron match saw freshman Gabi Ganley made her first career start. With the win, the Tribe improves to 2-0 all-time against the Zips. For the second time in three matches, Dedrick led the Tribe in kills. The junior now leads all William & Mary hitters with 37 kills on the year. Kaitlyn Ferguson made her William & Mary debut and recorded her first career kill in the match. The match was the first of the season to not go a full five sets for the Tribe. 
 
GAME TWO
 
How It Happened
Despite recording more kills and a better hitting percentage, William & Mary would drop the opening set to Wright State. The Tribe led midway through the first frame 16-15, but the Raiders would pull away for a 25-20 win. Wright State jumped out to an early lead in the second set and would coast to a 25-15 second set win despite being held to just .179 hitting by the Tribe. The third set saw Kate Van Houten record an ace and dish out five assists, but the Raiders would prevail 25-19 to wrap up the three-set win. 
 
Inside the Numbers
Julia Brown tied a season-high with five blocks in the match. Brown's efforts helped the Tribe limit Wright State to a .170 hitting percentage. Brenner added another 24 assists, taking her career tally to 1,879. The senior has the seventh most assists in Tribe history. Kate Dedrick hit .364 in the match marking her second straight effort of .350 or better. The junior has yet to hit below .250 in any match this season. Kaitlyn Ferguson posted seven kills in her first career start. 
 
Notes
Freshman Kaitlyn Ferguson made her first career start in the match at middle blocker. The match was the first-ever played between William & Mary and Wright State. Freshman setter Kate Van Houten made her William & Mary debut in the match and recorded five assists and an ace in two sets of work. Claire Farrell led the Tribe in kills for the first time this season. 
 
Up Next
The Tribe will look to end the weekend on a winning note as they take on Xavier at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Links to live stats and video of the match will be available on the team schedule page.