Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team picked up its fourth A-10 victory in exciting fashion, rallying from a set down to defeat Davidson at home on Sunday in the team's annual Breast Cancer Awareness match. In front of a sizeable crowd, the Rams coasted to fourth and fifth set wins after taking the opening frame. With the win, Fordham improves to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in conference play, while the Wildcats fall to 9-13 and 2-7, respectively.
"We were really up and down today and a lot of the match came down to serve and pass," Head coach
Gini Ullery-Shrift said, "We picked up our serving, which led us to capitalize defensively. We showed grit and perserverance even when things weren't going well for us."
Fordham hit .342 as a team in the first set but struggled enough over its next two frames to allow the Wildcats to take a 2-1 lead in the match. After a relatively easy 25-17 opening score, Davidson took sets two and three, 25-21 and 25-23. The Rams turned it up a notch in the fourth, however, spurred on by a lengthy run with
McKenna Lahr on serve. The freshman tossed up four aces in the set while
Olivia Fairchild and
Olivia LaPorta each tallied four kills, as the Rams forced a decisive fifth set, 25-15. The Rams kept the momentum going by scoring the fifth set's first 10 points. The Wildcats rallied but only for a few points; Fordham took the match with a 15-6 score.
Lahr added three mores aces in that final frame, giving her eight on the day, which tied the school's five-set single-match record and matched the overall single-match record, a feat that Fairchild accomplished a few weeks ago against George Washington. Mele Misi and Maria Rodenberg also have had eight aces in five-set matches before. Lahr also chipped in 11 digs, six kills, and three blocks.
Fairchild led the way with a match-high 21 kills to go with 10 digs, two aces, and two blocks. LaPorta chipped in 10 kills on .381 hitting with a season-high five digs and seven blocks, one solo. Elise Benajmin and
Natalie Martinez combined for 17 kills and a pair of blocks, and
Morgan Williams notched a match-high 12 digs.
Grace Muller received her first start of the year and tallied eight digs, and
Nicole Freeley came off the bench late to provide a crucial solo block and the match-ending kill.
The Rams' 12 aces are the third-most this season and will keep Fordham at the top of the national standings.
The team's 12 wins are the most since 2012 and most under Coach Ullery-Shrift, while the fourth conference wins match last year's output.
Fordham has one match next weekend and it's the team's home finale and Senior Day. The Rams host Rhode Island at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 27, and will honor five seniors prior to the match.
