Sunday, William and Mary traveled to South Carolina to take on College of Charleston in its first Colonial Athletic Association matchup of the season. Despite its success at the Hokie Invitational and Colonial Classic, the Tribe (4-6, 0-1 CAA) fell in three straight sets to the Cougars (11-5, 2-0 CAA).
The College started out the first set 1-0, the only lead it would see that day. The Cougars took off with a 10-point run, broken by a kill from sophomore opposite hitter Kate Dedrick off a set from senior setter Katie Kemp. Charleston went on two more runs, four and six-points, consecutively, putting them up 20-4. The Tribe took the ball back once more in the set thanks to a kill by senior middle blocker Katie Primatic off a set from junior setter Autumn Brenner. A service ace by Charleston’s opposite hitter Ella Ridinger gave the Cougars’ the 25-6 first-set victory.
The second set started off more competitive, with back-and-forth point until the College tied it up at 9-9 with a kill by freshman outside hitter Anne L. Seekford off an assist from junior outside hitter Casey Foote. The Tribe was unable to take the lead from that point on. A solid hit by Dedrick off a Kemp assist marked the College’s final point of the second set, down 19-15. Charleston took off on a six-point run to take the second set 25-15.
As was the trend of the contest, the third set was the most competitive. The Tribe took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a block by sophomore middle blocker Julia Brown and a ball handling error by Cougars setter Allison Beckman. The College did not hold the advantage for long, as Charleston tied the set 2-2 and 4-4. The Tribe got ahead again, 5-4, thanks to a block by freshman opposite hitter Claire Farrell and freshman middle blocker Madeleine Bertz, its last lead of the matchup. The Cougars went on a seven-point run, putting them up 11-5, and the College could not return. Charleston took the final set 25-18 to conclude their three-set sweep of the Tribe.
The College was led on offense by Brown and Farrell with eight and six kills, respectively. Brown, Bertz and Farrell each contributed to one block. Kemp had two services aces and Brown contributed one. Foote led the team with eight digs, followed by Brenner with seven.
The Tribe will continue its road trip, taking on Northeastern Friday and Hofstra next Sunday. It looks to snag its first conference victory of the season, and the first under new head coach Tim Doyle.