BOSTON, Mass. – The William & Mary volleyball team was edged at Northeastern, 3-2 (25-27, 25-16, 17-25, 27-25, 15-10), on Friday afternoon.
W&M (5-9, 1-4) won two of the first three sets, but the Huskies (6-7, 4-1) secured a narrow 27-25 victory in the fourth before claiming the final frame, 15-10.
Maddie Meyers led the Tribe with a team-high 16 kills and 14 digs for her sixth double-double of the season, while Oliva Esposito recorded 12 kills on a .526 hitting percentage with a team-best six blocks.
Amy Schwem (31 assists - season high / 12 digs) and
Bella Easton (24 assists / 15 digs) also came up big with double-doubles, while
Nicole Smith,
Katherine Arnason and
Audrey Brcka finished with 13, 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
The match opened with a tightly contested set that featured eight ties and five lead changes. W&M led by as many as five on multiple occasions, but NU fought back and knotted the score at 25-25 before back-to-back kills by
Sabrina Malcolm and Smith secured the stanza for the Tribe. Smith finished the frame with six kills on a .312 hitting parentage, while Easton dished out nine assists.
NU bounced back in the second set by scoring four of the first five points and then utilized an 11-2 run midway through the frame to pull away before eventually winning, 25-16.
The Tribe posted a .385 hitting percentage in the third set to help it win the frame. After leading by as many as seven, 21-14, W&M scored the stanza's final four points to secure the win. Esposito provided five kills on a .833 hitting percentage, while Meyers also added five kills and Schwem dished out nine assists.
Things looked good for the Tribe early in the fourth set as it jumped out to a 5-1 advantage. However, NU pulled ahead with six consecutive points midway through the frame to build a 13-9 lead. W&M trailed by as many as seven, 19-12, before charging back to knot the match at 23-23 before the Huskies claimed the final two points on attack errors by the Tribe.
Although W&M hit .368 in the final set, it was unable to overcome the Huskies' .550 attack percentage. NU led by just three at 12-9 but held the Tribe to just one point during the remainder of the match.
Three of W&M's four conference losses this season have come in five sets.
The teams will square off again on Saturday at 1 p.m.
