NORFOLK, Va.— The William & Mary women's volleyball team opened the 2024 campaign by coming out on the winning end of four hard-fought sets (26-24, 25-21, 25-27, 25-21) against UTSA on Friday afternoon at The Quest for the Crown in Norfolk.
 
Maddie Meyers and Nicole Smith led the Tribe to the 3-1 victory with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Kaitlyn Dunnigan posted 17 digs through the four sets.
 
Old Dominion is the host of the event at the ODU Volleyball Center, with W&M, UTSA, Virginia, Marist and ODU competing in matches Friday and Saturday.
 
Set One
After surrendering the first two points of the opening set, the Tribe took 10 of the next 12 points to build a 10-4 lead and force a UTSA timeout. Olivia Esposito and Maddie Meyers each picked up a pair of kills to go with an ace from Cate Hatfield to highlight the scoring run.
 
Sabrina Malcolm recorded her second and third kills of the set, but UTSA rebounded after the timeout, eventually tying things at 14-14 and forcing W&M to take a timeout of its own.
 
The Roadrunners kept the momentum going, claiming a 21-18 lead later in the set. Bella Easton sparked the Tribe with an ace late in the set and after an attack error by UTSA Audrey Brcka pushed W&M in front 23-22. Although UTSA jumped ahead again, 24-23, the Tribe took the final three points of the set for a 26-24 win.
 
Set Two
After trading points early, Meyers cashed in on her eighth kill of the afternoon helping the Tribe to an early 7-4 advantage. Three straight kills from Malcolm, Smith and Brcka moments later pushed the W&M lead to 13-7 forcing a timeout.
 
The Roadrunners managed to cut the lead to 18-16 before tying things for the first time at 19-all. The frame would again be tied at 20-20 before kills from Katherine Arnason and Smith propelled W&M to a 25-21 victory and two sets to none lead.
 
As a team the Tribe posted a solid .345 hitting percentage in the second set, to go with 13 digs. In addition to the hitting performance by W&M, four service errors in the set came back to haunt the Roadrunners.
 
Set Three
With their backs against the wall after two sets, the Roadrunners quickly grabbed a 7-4 lead in the third, before a block from Brcka and Esposito, and a kill from Hatfield, pulled the Tribe within one.
 
The two sides traded points, with the Tribe never able to rid themselves of the one-point deficit until Meyers posted her 13th kill of the match to tie the set, 13-13.
 
The Tribe tied things later at 17-17 and 18-18 before finally taking its first lead of the set off a solo block by Malcolm. Smith followed with a kill to give the Green and Gold a 20-18 lead, forcing a UTSA timeout.
 
Esposito and Arnason teamed up on a block to force another Roadrunner timeout at 23-20, which UTSA responded by tying the set at 24. The teams traded points before the Roadrunners won two in a row to take the third 27-25 and make the match 2-1 W&M.
 
Set Four
Like much of the match, the two teams traded points, this time with W&M being the one consistently holding a one- or two-point lead.
 
That was until a kill by Arnason and back-to-back UTSA attack errors pushed the Tribe lead to 11-6, forcing a timeout. W&M carried its momentum through the stoppage, stretching the scoring run to 6-0, and the lead to 14-7, thanks to a pair of Brcka kills and a Arnason and Malcolm block.
 
Moments later the Roadrunners used a spurt of their own to cut the lead to 15-11, and eventually 17-15, until Esposito picked up a pair of kills to give W&M some breathing room. UTSA would cut it down to 19-17, but that would be as close as they would get, with W&M taking the set 25-21 and the season opening match 3-1. Brcka and Smith provided the last three kills for the Tribe.
 
Defensively W&M was at its best in the fourth and final set, holding UTSA to 13 kills in the set and a hitting percentage of .116.
 
Inside the Numbers
Behind the 14 and 13 kills from Meyers and Smith, Brcka and Arnason had nine each, while Esposito chipped in seven. Smith's 13 kills came on 27 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .296.
 
Easton racked up 26 assists on Friday with Hatfield handing out 14 of her own. Hatfield also led the Tribe with three aces while Lindsay Kahren had a pair.
 
W&M's hitting percentage totaled .223 to UTSA's .192. The Tribe also held the advantage in blocks, 10-9, and aces, 6-3.
 
Up Next
The Tribe concludes its weekend at The Quest for the Crown Saturday at noon when it squards off against Virginia.