Box Score Aug. 29, 2008
Box Score
Hamden, Conn. -
The Fordham University volleyball squad opened the 2008 season in dramatic fashion, defeating Quinnipiac, 3-2, and then falling to Towson, 3-2, in the first day of action at the Quinnipiac Invitational at Burt Kahn Court. Christi Griffiths led the Rams to the win over Quinnipiac with a game-high 13 kills while Jenna Hart added ten kills and Katherine Burrell handed out 34 assists.
The Rams dropped the first game to the Bobcats, 25-22, before coming back to take the next two, 25-18 and 25-10. But Quinnipiac forced a fifth game when they upended the Rams, 27-25, in the fourth game. Fordham took the match with a 15-13 win in game five.
In the first game, the score was tied at 19 but a Hart service error was the first of three straight points for Quinnipiac as the Bobcats went on to the 25-22 win. In game two, Fordham led 9-8 and then scored seven of the next nine points to build a 16-10 lead en route to the 25-18 win as the Rams hit .368 in the game to Quinnipiac's .037.
Game three was all Fordham as the Rams jumped out to a 10-4 lead and never looked back, hitting .360 in the game while holding the Bobcats to just four kills. In game four, the Rams led 14-9 midway through the match before the offense went cold, allowing Quinnipiac back into the game as the Bobcats eventually knotted the game at 16, one of eight ties in the match. The Rams led 24-23 and had a chance to win the match but two attack errors gave Quinnipiac a 25-24 lead.
In the deciding game, Fordham built a 12-8 lead only to see the Bobcats come back to tie the game at 12 and then again at 13 when Kailee May took over, giving the Rams 14-13 lead with a kill and then ending the match with a service ace.
Burrell notched her first double-double of the season, recording 19 digs to go with her 34 assists while May also finished with a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.
In the Towson match, Fordham dropped the first two games by scores of 25-22 and 25-23, before coming back to win games three (25-18) and four (25-20) to force the fifth game. But the Rams came up short in game five, falling, 15-12.
The Rams trailed 15-10 in game one before battling back to tie the game at 18 on a Jolanda Gunning-Snowden kill. Neither team would hold more than a two-point lead the rest of the way until the 25-22 final. The Rams hit .450 in the game but the Tigers were a bit better, hitting at a .560 clip.
In game two, the Rams trailed for most of the game before knotting the score at 19 on another Gunning-Snowden kill. The game would be tied three more times before Towson pulled out the 25-23 win.
The third game featured a potent Fordham offense, which hit at a .316 clip as Fordham never trailed, while the Rams' defense held the Tigers to hitting .147. Game four was a defensive battle as neither squad hit over .200 but the Rams got hot late, scoring five straight points to turn a 15-15 tie into a 20-15 Ram advantage. Sara Friede led the charge with a pair of kills.
Game five saw nine ties, the last coming at 11-11 following a Towson attack error. But the Tigers would score the next three points to take a 14-11 lead en route to the 15-12 win.
May led the Fordham attack against Towson, finishing with 13 kills and adding 12 digs while Gunning-Snowden finished with 12 kills and Hart added 11. Burrell added a game-high 41 assists and a career-high 20 digs.
The Rams will continue play at the Quinnipiac Invitational on Saturday, August 30th, as they take on Rhode Island at 9:00 a.m. and Morgan State at 2:00 p.m.
