Nov. 18, 2010

A-10 Championship Notes/Statistics | A-10 Championship Central (links to video) | Fordham-Duquesne GameTracker

Cincinnati, Ohio - For the fourth time in five years, Fordham volleyball has earned a spot at the Atlantic 10 Championship this weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fordham had made three straight appearance from 2006-08 before missing out on last year's championship.

The Rams are seeded fifth at this weekend's championship, matching the team's best-ever seed, which came in 2007. Fordham will open with fourth-seeded Duquesne on Friday night at 7:30 PM, where a win would match Fordham up with top-seeded Dayton. The other half of the bracket is Saint Louis versus Charlotte in the 3-6 match-up with the winner facing second-seeded Xavier.

The Championship game on Sunday will be televised by CBS College Sports Television, beginning at 3:00 PM.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: The Rams have qualified for the Atlantic 10 Championship on three previous occasions from 2006-08. The Rams are 0-3 all-time at the championship, earning the fifth seed once (2007) and the sixth seed twice (2006, 2008).

The Rams lost to Saint Louis in 2006 (30-23, 30-25, 30-25), Temple in 2007 (30-23, 30-22, 17-30, 31-29), and George Washington in 2008 (25-22, 25-19, 25-7).

SCOUTING DUQUESNE: The Duquesne Dukes had a breakout season in 2010, posting a 22-9 record, and 10-5 mark in conference play. Duquesne had four players earn All-Conference accolades, while its coach, Steve Opperman, was named Co-Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.

The Dukes are led by First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection Liz Homan, who led the Dukes with a .367 hitting percentage to go with 313 kills (2.79 avg.) and 101 total blocks (0.90 avg.). Sara Scheirman earned Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors with a team-best 330 kills (3.37 avg.) to go with 297 digs (3.03 avg). Sarah Svorinic is the Duquesne setter with over 1,100 assists for a 10.67 avg.