DEKALB, ILL.- The middle blocker duo of Julia Brown and Sabrina Malcolm dominated from start to finish in the Tribe's 3-0 season-opening sweep of Western Illinois Friday night. Malcolm was a terror on both sides of the net with a career-high night in both kills (11) and blocks (nine) while Brown hit .412 with 10 kills and a trio of blocks. 
 
The Tribe offense was clicking all night in large part due to the consistency of Tim Doyle's pair of setters. Freshman Amy Schwem was brilliant dishing out 23 assists while junior Kate Van Houten tossed out 16 of her own. Overall, William & Mary had seven players with at least two kills.
 
 Anna Porter led the way on defense with 11 digs while Anne Louise Seekford added nine digs and put down seven kills. The win marks the first season-opening sweep for the Tribe since 2014 and the third straight season-opening win for Doyle. 
 
In a back and forth opening frame that saw the Tribe take a late 21-20 lead on a Lauren Merrill kill, the teams would exchange points pushing the game well past the 25 point mark. With the teams tied 30-30 the Green and Gold would take advantage of a miscue by the Leathernecks to earn set point before Kate Van Houten would sneak a kill into the WIU defense to take a 32-30 thrilling first set. 
 
William & Mary used the momentum of a first set win to take an early 6-1 lead in the second frame. The Tribe pushed the lead to 8-3 but a 7-2 WIU run would even the set at 10-10. A 4-0 run for Doyle's side highlighted by an Anna Porter ace would give the Tribe a 15-11 cushion. The Green and Gold would never trail in the second coasting to a 25-22 win on a .333 hitting percentage. 
 
The Tribe jumped out to a 7-4 lead early in the third, but the Leathernecks scored five straight to grab a two point advantage. William & Mary would answer with a 6-1 run of their own to regain the lead at 13-10. The Tribe would not fall behind again as Seekford's seventh kill of the evening closed out a 25-19 win giving the Green and Gold a 3-0 sweep. 
 
UP NEXT: The Tribe will wrap up the weekend tomorrow with an 11:00 a.m. (10 CT) meeting with the Air Force. The Falcons fell in their season opener Friday afternoon in five sets to CSU Bakersfield.