WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- On her 22nd birthday, Julia Brown scored 22 points including a fourth-set match point kill to push the Tribe to a season-opening victory Friday night at Kaplan Arena. Brown's 18 kills and four blocks were not the only jaw dropping numbers in W&M's 3-1 win over Elon as Kate Dedrick posted a career-high 25 kills, Kate Van Houten set a career mark with 55 assists, and Anna Porter scooped 23 digs in the victory.
 
The Tribe jumped on the Phoenix early scoring the first two points of the match and ending the first with a 25-16 opening set victory highlighted by seven kills from Dedrick on just 10 swings. Brown added four kills and three blocks in the opening stanza as Lauren Merrill posted three kills. Van Houten set the tone for a career evening with 14 assists and Anna Porter had seven digs as the team hit .538 in the first set of 2021. 
 
It was more of the same in the second frame as the Tribe scored the first four points of the set and hit a scalding .483 as a team. Brown and Dedrick each had five kills and true freshman Maddie Meyers joined the party with four slams of her own. 
 
As the third set began, it looked as if William & Mary would run away with a clean sweep after jumping out to an early 6-0 lead , but Elon would not go away quietly. In a close set a kill by Lauren Merrill made the score 24-23 Tribe and gave the Green and Gold an opportunity at match point. Elon was able to win the next three points to take a 26-24 frame and force a final stanza. 
 
In the fourth, W&M scored the first two points and the set remained close until Elon tied the score at 10-10 and went on a 9-2 run to break open an 18-12 lead. The Tribe battled from down 20-17 to tie the set at 20 per side. Trailing 21-22, Kate Dedrick took over with a pair of kills and an ace to give the home team a match point. A beautiful feed from Van Houten to Julia Brown set up a smash by the middle blocker into the middle of the floor to give the Tribe the win. 
 
It was an impressive victory overall as the Tribe hit .326 as a team over the four sets. Every player who touched the floor for Tim Doyle's team made an impact as Madeleine Bertz hit .714 with six kills and a pair of blocks. Maddie Meyers finished with 12 digs to compliment five kills and a pair of aces. Gabi Ganely was superb in the back row cleanly receiving 14 serves and racking up seven digs in the match. 
 
Kate Dedrick's impressive 25-kill evening will go down in the history books as tied for the fourth best performance in a fou-set match in Tribe history, tied for the most kills in a four game event under the current scoring format. Kate Van Houten's 55 assists are the 13th most by a Tribe setting in a four-set match. 
 
Tim Doyle will look for his team to replicate the strong performance tomorrow as the Tribe once again host Elon at Kaplan Arena. First serve between the two teams will be at 7:00 p.m.