By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

After the first two sets Saturday afternoon, William & Mary had no room for error. Instead of being overwhelmed by that, the Tribe embraced it. The result was a 3-2 victory over George Mason that extended its winning streak to five games, the program's longest since 2012.
 
At 5-3, W&M is off to its best start since '09.
 
"Credit to the girls because they stayed so poised," Coach Tim Doyle said. "We just had to get back to our identity. We run a lot of middles, we run a lot of overhead sets, and that's how we score points. We just needed to do that better."
 
Doyle said a key was getting University of Miami graduate transfer Taylor Burrell on the floor. She finished with 11 kills, all coming in the final three sets.
 
"Taylor made a ton of great plays for us," Doyle said. "It was nice combination of new personnel and a rotation that got us a better matchups to score those points. And then it was getting back to what we do best, which is pass balls and kill balls."
 
Senior libero Anna Porter had 32 digs, the most by a Tribe player since 2006. Freshman Ryann Love's nine blocks were the most by a freshman since Julia Brown in 2017. She was named CAA Rookie of the Week.

Men's soccer gets breakthrough win over Delaware 
To call it a must-win would be hyperbole. But having gone four games without tasting victory, William & Mary's 2-1 win over Delaware Saturday in men's soccer was certainly meaningful.
 
"We needed to have a performance where we felt like we could put something together that was a little more complete," Tribe coach Chris Norris said. "We needed to take advantage of being at home in CAA play and put some points on the (standings) board. For several reasons, it was a very important game for us."
 
W&M (1-2-2, 1-1 Colonial) scored the game-winner on Alexander Levengood's diving header in the 81^st minute, just 85 seconds after Delaware had gotten the equalizer. Nathan Messer scored the Tribe's first goal in the 42^nd minute.
 
W&M's first win came four days after a 1-1 tie against Longwood, which put the Tribe's record at 0-2-2. Norris said a big difference Saturday was the team's togetherness.
 
"We were all working hard to put the team in positions to win, but we didn't always have the same ideas about how that needed to happen," Norris said. "We got on the same page more for this game."
 
Next for the Tribe is a non-conference game at Old Dominion on Tuesday before resuming conference play Saturday at Stony Brook. The ODU game is something of a derby, but that's mostly for the old guard.
 
"For our current players, it's not as much of a rivalry game," Norris said. "But certainly for guys like myself, who were playing in the program when Old Dominion was in the CAA, it was a huge rivalry."
 
Field hockey rallies for third win over ranked opponent
Trailing by a goal at the break, No. 21 William & Mary scored twice in the third quarter and held on for a 2-1 win at No. 16 Duke. The Tribe has defeated three ranked teams (Old Dominion and Liberty were the first two) this season for the first time since 2004.
 
The Blue Devils outshot W&M 17-6, 6-4 on cage. Tribe goalie Maddie George turned back five of those shots, and W&M (5-1) made its chances count.
 
Lauren Curran's goal at 35:12 tied it, and Allison Goodwin scored what turned out to be the game-winner eight minutes later.
 
"Individually, they have some really strong players," Tribe coach Tess Ellis said. "But I think we played the better team game. And at the end of the day, that's what won. Duke had a lot of talent out there, but individuals can't beat a really good team."
 
Curran, who scored both of William & Mary's goals in a 2-0 win at Davidson Friday night, was named the CAA Player of the Week.
 
Coming up this week
Monday: Men's golf day one at VCU Shootout; Women's golf day one in William & Mary Invitational (Kingsmill).
 
Tuesday: Men's golf day two at VCU Shootout; Women's golf day two in William & Mary Invitational (Kingsmill); Men's soccer at Old Dominion, 7 p.m.
 
Thursday: Women's soccer vs. Longwood, 7 p.m.
 
Friday: Men's and women's cross country at CNU XC Regional; Men's tennis day one at Penn Invitational; Field hockey at James Madison.
 
Saturday: Men's tennis day two at Penn Invitational; Women's tennis day one in Tribe Invitational (McCormack-Nagelsen); Men's soccer at Stony Brook, noon; Women's volleyball vs. UNC Wilmington (Kaplan), 2 p.m.; Football at Lafayette, 3:30 p.m.
 
Sunday: Men's tennis day three at Penn Invitational; Women's tennis day two in Tribe Invitational (McCormack-Nagelsen); Field hockey vs. Connecticut (Busch), noon; Women's soccer at East Carolina, 1 p.m.; Women's volleyball vs. UNC Wilmington (Kaplan), 2 p.m.