WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary volleyball (13-13, 8-8 CAA) returns to the road to close their 2023 regular season campaign with a pair of matches at UNCW on Saturday, Nov. 11 and Sunday, Nov. 12.
 

Match Information (Match 27-28)
Opponent	UNCW (10-16, 7-9 CAA)
Date/Time	4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11th | 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12th
Location	Wilmington, N.C. – Hanover Hall
FloVolleyball	Saturday | Sunday
Live Stats	Saturday | Sunday
Match Notes	W&M Notes

League Leader
Middle blocker Olivia Esposito remains first in the CAA and nationally ranked in the top 50 in both hitting percentage and blocks per set as she has continued to display her dominance on the court. With a .395 hitting percentage, Esposito sits at No. 27 and she clocks in at No. 44 in blocks per set with 1.25.

Rising in the rankings entering conference play, Esposito has been ranked as high as No. 17 (Oct. 26) in hitting percentage (.407) and No. 27 (Oct. 12) in blocks per set (1.34).

The sophomore has also totaled 100 blocks and ranks second in the CAA, just nine blocks behind Towson's Aayinde Smith. She's the first Tribe player to reach triple-digit blocks since Julia Brown's 113 in 2019.
 

Brick Wall at the Net
In conference play, senior middle blocker Sabrina Malcolm has recorded a team-leading nine solo blocks among her 47 total blocks. On the season, she leads the Tribe with 12 solo blocks and is second on the team in total blocks with 75. Malcolm is only five blocks shy of matching her career-high 80 blocks that she totaled last season.

 
The Opponent
UNCW is coming off of two losing weekends, dropping a pair of matches to Delaware and Stony Brook. The Seahawks look to snap their four-game skid in their final weekend at home. 

Graduate student outside hitter Katie Lanz leads the team with 224 kills and an impressive 3.11 kills per set. 170 of Lanz's kills have come against conference opponents, averaging 2.93 kills per set.

Junior middle Grace Melnick boasts a .342 hitting percentage with her 150 kills and her 67 blocks is good for second on the team behind senior Caitlyn Callahan's 80.
 
Series History
The Tribe and the Seahawks are long-time conference opponents. Over four decades of CAA competition, the teams have met 73 times. The Tribe leads the series 54-19 all-time. W&M had an impressive 47-1 run from 1983-2010, winning the first 33 matches played between the two teams. The Seahawks have flipped the script in recent years, taking seven of the last 10 meetings.

The Tribe swept the most recent match, 3-0, on Sept. 18, 2022, in Williamsburg. The last weekend the teams played in Wilmington, N.C., they split the series. W&M won in a five-set thriller to even the weekend.

In the month of November, the Tribe are 19-10 over the Seahawks. On Nov. 11, the teams are 1-1 (2000, 2018). The Tribe won the only match played on Nov. 12, 3-1, in 2005.
 
Up Next
This weekend, the Tribe are playing for a spot in the CAA Championship. The tournament will take place at TU Arena in Towson, Maryland and will feature the top six teams in the conference, with the No. 3 through No. 6 seeds playing in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 16.

Heading into the weekend, the Tribe's 8-8 record ties them for seventh in the league and they fight to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
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