RICHMOND, Va. — William & Mary volleyball fell to Virginia 3-1 on the opening day of the VCU Invitational on Friday afternoon, falling 23-25, 25-15, 19-25, 21-25.
The Tribe (1-3) used an 8-0 run to take the second set in dominant fashion, 25-15, but was unable to hold off the Cavaliers (2-1) in the third and fourth stanzas.
W&M opened the first set with
Teagan Pocius scoring two early kills off
Cate Hatfield assists, and later held an 8-4 lead after a block involving Pocius and
Emily McKee.
The Cavaliers moved in front late at 23-20, but the Tribe answered with a UVA service error and a block by
Audrey Brcka and Pocius to get back within 23-22. The set finished with the Cavaliers taking it 25-23 after a W&M service error.
The Green and Gold broke open the second set with an 8-0 run that turned a 15-12 edge into a 23-12 advantage, with
Katherine Arnason serving seven straight points during the stretch. Arnason had three aces in that service run, while Brcka and
Olivia Westfort added kills as W&M pushed toward set point.
Earlier,
Regan Hill served the Tribe from an 11-11 tie to a 15-11 lead, while Hatfield closed the set with a kill for a 25-15 win.
W&M built an 8-5 lead in the third set behind kills from Arnason and Brcka, plus consecutive service aces by Brcka. UVA later pulled even at 14-14 and scored the next three points, including a Meredith Reeg service ace and two Tribe attack errors. The Green and Gold got late kills from Westfort and McKee, but the Cavaliers closed the set 25-19.
The Tribe's main push in the fourth set came after UVA built a 17-7 lead, as kills from
Ava Crabtree and Brcka, along with a Westfort service ace, helped close the gap to 22-20. The Cavaliers answered with the next two points, and although Brcka added another kill at 24-20, UVA closed out the set 25-21.
STAT NUGGETS
- Brcka had team-high 17.5 points and 15 kills
- Hatfield poured in 41 assists and 10 digs
- Arnason had 14 digs, nine kills, and three service aces.
- Pocius had eight kills and led W&M with four blocks.
- The Tribe had nine aces to Virginia's four.
- W&M also had more points (66.0) than the Cavaliers (65.0).
UP NEXT
W&M faces ETSU during day two of the VCU Invitational on Saturday at 2 p.m.
