Watch | Live Stats
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team (11-17, 4-9) wraps up its 2016 regular season on Saturday afternoon when it hosts second-place Rhode Island (16-9, 11-2) in the Rose Hill Gym at 2 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham returned home from a three-week, five-match road swing and split results against George Mason and George Washington last weekend. The Rams rallied twice after going down a set against the Patriots during Field Trip Day last Friday, and led 12-5 in the fifth set, but ultimately fell as the visitors sparked a rally of their own. Sunday was the team's senior day and lone senior Kristen Ostach was honored with a pregame ceremony. The Rams and Colonials battled to split the first two sets but Fordham was the better team on the other side of the long break, soundly beating George Washington in the final two sets to earn the team's fourth victory of the season, the most Atlantic 10 victories under fourth-year head coach Gini Ullery. Freshman standout Olivia Fairchild finished the weekend with 41 combined kills at a .250 clip and was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season.
 
National/Conference Rankings
After a solid weekend of serving, with the team racking up 19 total over the two games, including a season-high 13 on Sunday, the Rams rank seventh in the country with 186 service aces.
 
At the individual level, Fairchild's five aces over the weekend bumped her up to 56 on the season and now fourth overall in the country. Classmate Kaitlin Morley added four and is 26^th overall. Fairchild heads into the final game of her freshman campaign ranked eighth in the nation with 547.5 points, 10^th overall with 471 kills, and 28^th with 1,159 attacks. Maddy Walsh has dropped to fifth in the conference and 94^th overall with 938 assists.  
 
Program Ranks
Fairchild will wrap up a tremendous freshman year on Saturday and look to improve where she currently stands in the Fordham single season ranks. The Phoenix native is 10 kills away from tying Val Bosticco's 1990 number and 14 from Tasha Johnston's 2006 mark. She is fourth overall with the aforementioned number of attacks, 58 from tying Lisa Hipp from 2012. Her current 4.36 kills per set average will easily be the highest of any Ram in a single year, besting Johnston's 2006 mark of 3.82. Fairchild is currently joint-ninth on the list for aces and can tie for sixth with three more.   
 
Maddy Walsh's assist numbers (938 total and 9.29 average) sit just outside the top-10 in her respective categories, while Morgan Williams' 376 digs this season while appearing in all 108 sets is just two off the top-10, behind Stephanie Frost's 2005 mark, while she is also sixth overall with 3.48 digs per set.
 
Series History vs. Rhode Island
The Rams' series dates back to 1995 when Fordham joined the Atlantic 10. Since then, Rhode Island holds a 29-9 record, including seven straight wins. Rhody defeated Fordham in Kingston earlier this season in straight sets.  Fordham holds a 4-15 record at home.
 
Scouting the Rams
Rhode Island has solidified its spot as the #2 seed at the A-10 Championship. Rhody's attack is led by Audrey Castro, who has 338 kills on the season, with Callan Kinnan setting up the attack, who recently surpassed Walsh in the A-10 standings and has three more assists, 941, on the year. The Rams are also a very good serving team, with 136 on the season and five players with at least 22 aces. Defensively, Olivia Budincih leads thr way with 253 digs, but Kinnan and Jessie Blaze have 217 and 210, respectively. Layne Self, who is second in the squad with 224 kills at a .341 clip, is a terrific defender, with 112 total blocks, including 14 solo. Rhode Island is coming off five straight wins.