MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Stevenson women's volleyball team fell 3-1 to Williams in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday evening at Silloway Gymnasium.
 
Both teams worked through opening round jitters in the first set with Stevenson hitting just .105 and Williams hitting .125 while battling through 11 tie scores and five lead changes. Stevenson took the first advantage with a 10-7 lead before the Ephs rifled off a 6-2 run to take their first lead of the set. Sarah Straub and Haley Hoover paired up for the only block in the set for Stevenson to stall the momentum, but Williams continued to expand, taking a 13-16 lead.
 
The Mustangs continued to battle, tying the set three more times in the set before a three-point run with back-to-back kills from Sarah Straub gave Stevenson a slim 20-19 lead. Shannon Baily added an ace to move the set to 22-21 but the Ephs finished the set with four-point rally to win the first set 22-25.
 
The match continued to be tightly contested into the second set which saw eight tie scores and five lead changes with each team only able to put down 13 kills and totaling 18 combined attack errors. Stevenson took a slight margin with a three-point run to a 12-10 lead on kills from Shannon Baily and Giulia Viglietta. The Mustangs used a 5-2 run to move their lead to 17-13 capped by a block from the duo of Haley Hoover and Rileigh Kimball. Kimball notched three-straight aces to cap a five point run, extending the Stevenson lead to 22-16.
 
The Ephs closed the gap with a four-point run before Stevenson tacked on two points, including a block from Baily and Straub. However, Williams was not done with its comeback. The Ephs used a five-point run to take a 24-25 advantage and force the set to extra points. The sides traded points to a 26 tie before Shannon Baily notched a kill then an ace to give the Mustangs the second set at 28-26.
 
In the third frame, Williams ran out to a 4-9 lead before a six-point Stevenson run gave the Mustangs a 11-10 lead. Rileigh Kimball tallied two aces on the run while Shannon Baily notched back-to-back kills. Williams responded with a 10-3 run for a 15-21 lead. Rileigh Kimball earned four consecutive points for the Mustangs on a kill and three-straight aces to narrow the gap to 21-19. However, the Ephs picked up four of the next five points to take the third set 20-25.
 
Stevenson jumped to a 10-6 lead to open the fourth set before Williams riffled off an 11-0 run to take a 10-17 lead. Stevenson chipped away with a 6-2 run to close the gap to 16-19. Giulia Viglietta tallied three kills on the run while Shannon Baily added two and Makala Thompson added an ace. Williams closed the match on a 6-2 runto win the set 18-25 but not before Haley Hoover and Riligh Kimball paired up for one final block.
 
Numbers and Notes

• Rileigh Kimball recorded a career-high 9 aces, just the fourth Mustang in program history to hit the mark.
• Shannon Baily tallied 14 kills to lead the Mustangs.
• Makala Thompson dished out 21 assists while Samantha Simmers added 13.
• Haley Hoover and Rileigh Kimball each tallied five block assists.
• Kayla Vaeth tallied 20 digs and six assists.