WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Opening the William & Mary Homecoming weekend with a fifth-straight victory on home turf, W&M volleyball secured a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18) win over North Carolina A&T on Thursday night.

In a milestone win, Coach Adams secured his 50th career victory as the Tribe improved to a 12-9 record on the season and a 7-4 record in the CAA. With win No. 12, the Tribe match 2022 for the most in a single season since 2012's 13-win year, and the seventh conference victory marks the most since the team saw 10 in 2009.

With 12 team blocks, Olivia Esposito and Sabrina Malcolm led the Tribe at the net, earning six block assists apiece, and Katherine Arnason and Eleanor Stothoff each added five. Five blocks came in the team's dominant third set.

The Green and Gold had the advantage at the service line, recording nine aces – three from Emma Minnick and a pair from Lindsay Kahren and Malcolm.

Entering the match, Esposito led the conference with a .401 hitting percentage. Tonight, she continued her dominance on the attack, adding eight kills with a team-leading .500 mark.

With five-straight kills, two from the visitors and three by the Tribe, the teams made an offensive statement to open the match. 

NC A&T worked up to a five-point lead early in the first frame, slowing down the Tribe's attack.

With a pair of 3-0 runs in the latter half of the first set, the Tribe rebounded from a five-point deficit to take a 23-22 lead. Capitalizing on errors, the Aggies were able to slip past the Tribe for a 25-23 victory in the first set.

Despite getting off to a slower start in the second set, the Tribe jumped out to a lead of five with a dominant 7-0 run. Malcolm came in clutch, adding two service aces in the sequence.
 
Seven lead changes and 10 tied scores culminated in a close 25-22 set win for the Tribe in the second frame to even the match at 1-1.

A back-and-forth game in the second set, quickly became a Tribe dominated matchup as the Green and Gold jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the third frame. W&M didn't let go of their lead in the third set, adding 10 kills, five team blocks and three aces to their match totals.
 
Taking advantage of NC A&T errors on the attack and limiting the Aggies to a -.091 hitting percentage in the third frame, the Tribe extended their match lead to 2-1 heading into the decisive fourth set.

Allowing the Aggies to capture the first point of the final frame, the teams traded points to a 5-5 game. Taking an eight point lead with a 5-0 scoring run, the Tribe worked to solidify their win. Five of Stothoff's kills came in the fourth set, as she made a strong final push to claim the game for the Tribe.

Stothoff capped the Tribe's effort with her team-leading 11th kill of the night to propel the Green and Gold past the Aggies in their first meeting. W&M remains undefeated at Kaplan in the 2023 season.

The Tribe looks to extend their home win streak to six games tomorrow with a 7 p.m. start at Kaplan Arena for match two against the Aggies.
 
FOLLOW THE TRIBE
Follow William & Mary volleyball on Twitter/X (@WMTribeVB), Instagram (@WMTribeVB) and Facebook (/WMTribeVB)for more information, matchday updates and Tribe volleyball content.