WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- The William & Mary volleyball team is back in action this weekend for the team's final two home matches of the season. The Tribe welcomes in Elon for a Saturday evening tilt before facing the Phoenix Sunday afternoon for Senior Day.
Madeleine Bertz,
Julia Brown,
Claire Farrell, Laure Merrill,
Anne Louise Seekford, and
Kate Van Houten will each be honored before Sunday's home finale. Student manager
Stephanie Son will also be recognized as a senior.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
SENIORS
Kate Van Houten has 141 assists on the season to go with 15 kills and 36 digs. During her career, Van Houten has 524 career assists, placing her 11th in the Tribe history books. With 5.35 assists per set, she comes into the weekend ranking sixth under the current scoring format.
Claire Farrell had 23 kills earlier in the year and 386 in her career. The Virginian was named to the CAA All-Rookie team in 2018 after a stellar freshman year. Farrell has 84 career blocks in 62 matches played and 175 total digs.
Anne Louise Seekford has been in 70 matches as a staple in the Tribe lineup over the past four years. Seekford ranks third on the team with 88 kills this season and has 258 in her career. She has filled up the stat sheet with 33 service aces and 37 total blocks. Seekford is second on the Tribe with 98 digs on the year and has 358 in her career.
Madeleine Bertz has played in 37 matches over the past four years and has 80 total blocks. The Atlanta native has 119 career kills. Bertz has only played in one set this season due to an injury, but recorded a kill in her lone action.
Lauren Merrill has been one of the Tribe's go to players for the past four seasons. Under the current scoring format, Merrill ranks eighth in school history with 552 total kills. She is second on the team this season with 102 kills and third with 29 blocks. Over her career Merrill has collected 104 blocks, good for 13th in Tribe history and 438 digs.
Julia Brown has played in 104 matches and racked up 346 total blocks, the second most in Tribe history under the current scoring format. The middle blocker is fourth in the archives with 864 career kills adding 161 this season. The graduate student was named All-CAA during the spring and preseason all-league coming into the fall. In 2017, Brown was named to the All-Rookie team. In her final season, Brown ranks fourth in the CAA with 3.16 kills per set and fifth with a .309 hitting percentage.
Last season, coach Doyle's team defeated Elon twice in a pair of 3-1 victories in Williamsburg. Over the two matches in the spring, Kate Van Houten dished out 107 assists while Julia Brown hammered down 36 kills hitting over .300 in both matches. Lauren Merrill was also fantastic with 23 kills over the four sets, while Anna Porter collected 41 digs.
Saturday night the Tribe will welcome faculty to the contest as each player has invited her Most Valuable Professor to enjoy the match. As a program, the Tribe has a very special team MVP in math professor Stephen Trefethen. Over the past few years, Trefethen has stepped in as the team's volunteer assistant. This season he has worked closely with the libero unit and helps in the serve and pass systems.
Last Saturday, Kate Van Houten set a new career mark with 33 assists over a three-set match. The 33 were also a high for any Tribe player in any three-set match this season. Julia Brown had a standout performance killing 14 balls in the three-set match, tying her career mark for a three-setter. Maddie Meyers had 12 digs in last Friday's match tying her career-high.
Merrill comes into the weekend with 104 total blocks, tied for 13th under the current scoring format. Merrill also jumped two spots in the record books moving into eighth all time with 552 kills. Anna Porter has 646 digs, good for ninth under the current scoring format. The libero is just three digs from moving into eighth in the record books.
