NORFOLK, Va. – The William & Mary volleyball team dropped its midweek contest in a four-set heartbreaker to Old Dominion on the road, 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-27). The Tribe falls to 2-2 and the Monarchs improve to 3-0 on the season.

With three points marking the widest margin producing a set win, Tuesday's battle was evenly matched throughout the competition. Each team produced 50 kills in the match and W&M recorded only one fewer aces (8) and assists (48) to ODU's 9 aces and 49 assists.

The score tied 30 times in the contest, and the back-and-forth nature of the match produced 11 lead changes. In the second set alone, the teams tied nine times with four lead changes.

Olivia Esposito had a dominant game, recording a career-best 11 kills and nine block assists to produce a team-leading 15.5 points, hitting at a 36.8% mark.

After trading the first 11 points recorded in the first set, ODU pulled ahead on a 5-0 run to take a convincing lead to begin the match. The Tribe battled back, tying the match at 18-all on Eleanor Stothoff's second kill of the set. An attack error on the Monarchs and a pair of kills from Taylor Burrell and Stothoff knotted the score, once again, at 21-21 and Sarah Callender drove in a kill to take back the Tribe's lead. A short rally from the Monarchs sealed the set 25-22, and the Tribe fell in the opening frame.

After dropping the first set by three points, the teams did not finish another set with more than a two-point margin. Trading points in the second and third frames, ODU's 2-1 lead proved to be vital in the decisive fourth set.

The Tribe started hot in the fourth set, taking a 9-3 lead as Esposito added three kills and a block assist by the seventh awarded point. The final frame produced the widest lead in the match as William & Mary scored six straight to take a 16-7 lead. As was the theme of the night, ODU fought back to a 23-23 tie late in the set. Trading points once again, the teams saw 24-24 and 25-25 ties before the Monarchs eventually broke the match open with a pair of points to take the win.
 
UP NEXT
The Tribe returns to the road for the Bucknell Invitational in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, for a three-match weekend. Opening the tournament against the host team, the Tribe will hit the court at 7 p.m. on September 1 against Bucknell. William & Mary takes on Cornell on Saturday at 10 a.m. to kick off day two of the invitational and then faces Niagara for a 4 p.m. match.