By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
After winning its first two games, William & Mary's field hockey team hit a road block with a 3-1 loss to Richmond Friday night. Instead of dwelling on it, the Tribe took what it had learned and applied it to Sunday's game at No. 6 Liberty.
 
The result: A 1-0 victory, which came on Ireland Miller's penalty shot with 42 seconds remaining in overtime. It was W&M's second win of the season against a ranked team (it defeated No. 19 Old Dominion in the opener) came against the 2021 national runner-up.
 
"On Sunday, the girls played with the mentality that we're always the underdog," Tribe coach Tess Ellis said. "Apparently, that works for us. With each game, we're getting more self-confidence. I think that's the big thing."
 
Liberty outshot the Tribe 24-5, 12-2 on cage, but Miller's penalty stroke was the only one that found wood. It was the Tribe's first win over a top-10 opponent since 2019 against No. 5 Louisville.
 
The Flames defeated William & Mary 2-0 last fall, and the teams played to a 1-1 in a scrimmage tie last month. Although they've only played four times, beating Liberty was a sweet reward.
 
"It cost me milkshakes and ice cream on the way home," Ellis said. "The girls were joking, 'Tess, remember how you used to bribe by buying milkshake after we won?' I said, 'If you win today, you can have milkshakes.'
 
"Well, they called me on it. So we stopped at the Dairy Queen on the way home."
 
Goal keeper Maddie George, who had a career-high 12 saves against the Flames, was named CAA Co-Player of the Week.
 
After 0-3 start, volleyball flips the scrip
The previous weekend, William & Mary's volleyball team went 0-3 in Florida. This time, the Tribe headed north and found different results.
 
Playing in the Pittsburgh area, W&M defeated Robert Morris, Duquesne and Canisius. Let by remarkably efficient play by its middle blockers, the Tribe lost only one set the entire trip.
 
"You hear this in sports: When you're not playing so well, you make the easy plays look hard," Tribe coach Tim Doyle said. "This weekend, we made the easy plays look easy. We played like a high-performing Division I team should.
 
"There was one stretch the very last day against Canisius, the first 12 points or so of the match, where I didn't see a (good) level of play. I called a quick timeout and said, 'We need a course correct.' The girls, to their credit, got back on track really fast."
 
The Tribe's shooting percentage reflects its efficiency over the weekend. The statistic is calculated by taking the number of kills, subtracting errors, and dividing by the number of attempts. As a whole, W&M had a very strong percentage of .276 in three games.
 
"Between Ryann Love, Olivia Esposito and Sabrina Malcolm, our middles hit .400 plus, which is an insane number," Doyle said. "Eleanor Stothoff and Sarah Callander, both of them are pin players, and they hit .390 and .360. Those numbers are really, really exceptional for pin attackers.
 
"That goes to show our offensive efficiency was really sharp. And because our middles were so dominant, it opens up the rest of our offense."
 
Callander was named the CAA Rookie of the Week.

Cross Country starts off the season at Charlotte
Both men's and women's cross country teams opened the year at the Charlotte Opener against loaded fields that included nationally-ranked North Carolina and regionally-ranked Charlotte and Georgia.
 
Led by its freshman class, the women topped Georgia and were just 10 points shy of Charlotte, who is ranked No. 8 in the Southeast Region. Freshman Catherine Garrison led the way for the Tribe with a top-10 performance.
 
On the men's side, the Tribe also defeated SEC foe Georgia. Radford transfer Nate Jennings topped W&M, finishing 20th.
 
Women's soccer picks up a draw vs. American
After 1-0 loss to VCU Thursday night, women's soccer played American to a scoreless tie Sunday afternoon at Martin Family Stadium. Goalkeeper Zoe Doughty has allowed only one goal with 14 saves in her last 360 minutes.
 
The men's team began CAA play with a 4-1 loss at Drexel, which scored three goals in the first 38 minutes. Alfredo Bozalongo scored the only goal for W&M (0-2-1, 0-1-0).
 
Coming up this week
Tuesday: Men's soccer vs. Longwood, 7 p.m., Martin Family Stadium.
Friday: Volleyball vs. Maryland Eastern Shore, 5 p.m., Kaplan Arena; Field hockey at Davidson, 6 p.m.
Saturday: Volleyball vs. George Mason, 2 p.m., Kaplan Arena; Football vs. Campbell, 6 p.m., Zable Stadium; Men's soccer vs. Delaware, 7 p.m., Martin Family Stadium.
Sunday: Field hockey at Duke, 1 p.m.; Women's soccer at Georgetown, 1 p.m.