William and Mary extended its losing streak to four over the weekend, remaining winless in the Colonial Athletic Association after defeats at the hands of conference foes Northeastern and Hofstra.
The Tribe (6-11, 0-4 CAA) played competitively for the majority of Friday against the Huskies (13-5, 3-1 CAA), but failed to win a single set on their way to a 3-0 loss. In all three sets, the College trailed by 21-19 but could not orchestrate a late comeback in any of them, falling 25-20, 25-19 and 25-22, respectively. The Tribe could not match Northeastern’s attacking prowess, with the Huskies enjoying a 53-39 advantage in kills and besting the College in assists 47-36, all while out-hitting the Tribe .287 to .197.
The most productive member of the Tribe was freshman outside hitter Casey Foote, who contributed 13.5 points with a double-double of 12 kills and 15 digs while also adding an ace to her statline. Other top scorers included junior outside hitter Sydney Biniak, who led the Tribe with a .391 hitting percentage and contributed 11 kills, and freshman outside hitter Alex Stein, who managed eight kills and an efficient .368 hitting percentage. Junior defender Sara Zumbach highlighted the College’s defensive effort with a match-high 17 digs, while freshman setter Autumn Brenner recorded 34 assists and two aces. Northeastern was buoyed by the stellar play of Huskies outside hitter Jamie Bredahl, who led all scorers with 16 kills.
After losing in straight-sets Friday, the Tribe traveled to Hempstead, N.Y. to take on Hofstra (12-5, 2-2 CAA). While the College did manage to squeak out one set, it was not enough to take down the Pride, who ultimately triumphed 3-1.
Hofstra claimed the first set in lopsided fashion, 25-14, but the College stormed back to narrowly win the second, 26-24. Once again, the Tribe faced a 21-19 deficit, but this time it chipped away at the Pride lead until both teams were tied at 24. A Hofstra attack error broke the deadlock, and Foote followed with an emphatic kill to clinch the set for the College.
The Tribe could not build any momentum after the nail-biting second-set victory, dropping the next two sets 25-16 and 25-7 to seal a fourth consecutive defeat.
The Tribe could not build any momentum after the nail-biting second-set victory, dropping the next two sets 25-16 and 25-7 to seal a fourth consecutive defeat. The College was on the back foot in almost every statistical category against the Pride, managing a meager .061 hitting percentage. Biniak and Stein led the Tribe attack with 15 and 10 kills, respectively, while Zumbach once again led all players with 18 digs on Sunday. Hofstra right side hitter Laura Masciullo dominated the College defense, recording a double-double of a match-high 17 kills to go along with 10 digs.
With these two losses, the College remains at the bottom of the CAA standings along with Delaware, holding an identical 0-4 conference record with the Blue Hens. The Tribe will play its first home matches since Sept. 13 at Kaplan Arena when the Tribe hosts CAA opponent College of Charlestion Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. match against reigning conference champion North Carolina Wilmington Sunday.
