Oct. 10, 2009

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

Bronx, N.Y. - In a wild roller coaster match, the Fordham volleyball team did everything they could to register their second ever win over the Xavier Musketeers, but saw the match just get out of reach as Xavier won in five sets at the Rose Hill Gym. Final set scores were 15-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-13, and 16-14.

With the loss, Fordham drops to 8-14 overall, 0-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Xavier improved to 11-8 overall, 4-1 in the league.

The match started off great for Fordham, as they took the opening set by 10 points, 25-15, hitting .343 as a team, led by Sara Friede and Christi Griffiths, who each had four kills.

Xavier came right back in the second set, posting an 11-point win, 25-14, where they hit .360 as a group, led by Hillary Otte's four kills.

The neck and neck match continued in set three, as down by three, 17-14, Fordham rallied for three points on a kill by Brittany Daulton and two blocks from Jenna Hart to tie the set at 17. After the team's exchanged points, the Rams scored three straight, highlighted by kills from Hart and Daulton, to take a 21-18 lead. The Rams then sealed the set win, following three errors from Xavier and topped off by a Friede kill.

The momentum shifts kept going in set four, as the Musketeers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, and eventually led by as many as 12 points to force a fifth set at 25-13.

After Xavier scored the first four points in the deciding set, Fordham rallied all the way back to tie the score at 13 all. A service error gave Xavier match point, but Friede came up with a kill to keep the match alive for Fordham. Xavier however got a Fordham attack error and a kill from Claire Paszkiewicz to win the seesaw affair, 16-14.

For Fordham, Griffiths posted her second career double-double with 12 kills and a career-high 17 digs to go with five blocks, while Friede also had a double-double with a match-high 15 kills and 13 digs. Hart and Daulton each added eight kills with Hart also having four blocks, while defensively Michele Keathley had a season-high 19 digs.

The Fordham volleyball team will next be in action on Friday, October 16th, when they play at Temple, beginning at 7:00 PM.