William and Mary (7-20, 3-13 CAA) traveled to Towson (26-2, 16-0 CAA), where it fell 3-1 to the top team of the Colonial Athletic Association in the season finale, Nov. 17.
The Tribe started the first set strong, taking the Tigers by surprise with a 6-3 early lead, coming from a pair of kills by sophomore outside hitter Claire Farrell and an ace from junior opposite hitter Kate Dedrick.
The Tigers came back to tie it up at 7-7, but Dedrick put the Tribe back in front with the first of her 21 kills of the day, hitting a .362. This was her seventh match this season with 15 or more kills. The Tigers battled back and tied the game at 18. Another Dedrick kill and a kill from freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Ferguson helped the Tribe pull away, before blocks from Farrell and junior middle blocker Julia Brown put the set away, giving the Tribe a 25-22 victory.
The second set started out with an ace from freshman libero Anna Porter, but the Tribe could not continue its momentum from the first set, as the Tigers would go up by five quickly. The Tribe brought itself back within three with a kill by Brown and a couple of Towson errors, but the Tigers pulled away with a 25-13 win, to tie the match up 1-1.
The third set opened with the lead going back and forth, until Towson went on 4-0 run, putting them up by five. The Tribe tried to cut the lead with four kills from Dedrick and a block by Ferguson and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Merrill, but was unsuccessful as Towson won the set 25-19.
The fourth set started just like the third with neither team able to pull away, with kills from Dedrick, Brown, Farrell, and Merrill, but the Tigers went on another 4-0 run, making the score 16-12. Despite Dedrick’s eight kills in the set, the Tribe could not pull off the upset, Towson winning the final set 25-18, and the match 3-1.
This marked the end of the College’s season. The Tribe finished last out of the nine teams in the CAA, missing the conference tournament. The College will graduate just one senior, setter Autumn Brenner. The rest of the team will return next fall, attempting to improve on a disappointing season.