Box Score Sept. 4, 2010
Georgetown Box Score | Bradley Box Score
College Park, Md. - Looking to rebound from its first loss of the season, the Fordham volleyball team had two chances to do so on Saturday at Maryland Invite in College Park, Md. However, Georgetown and Bradley had different notions, as both teams handed Fordham a loss today, leaving the Rams at 4-3 on the season.
In its first match on Saturday, Fordham fell to Georgetown (2-4) in three sets by scores of 25-14, 25-19, and 25-17.
The match began with Georgetown jumping out to a 9-2 lead, as Samantha Trauth had four kills in the early goings of the first set. The Hoyas rode that early lead to as many as 11 and the set win, as Georgetown hit .375 in the opening set.
The early start again went the Hoyas way in set two, opening up a 10-4 lead. Fordham pulled within three at 21-18 on a block by Christi Griffiths and Carina Thompson, but Georgetown's Elizabeth Riggins closed out the set with three straight kills to give the Hoyas a 25-19 set win.
Fordham tried to get back into the match in set three, opening with the first three points, but the Hoyas regained the advantage at 9-8, and then put together a string of points to lead 14-8, capped by a Riggins service ace. The Rams fought back within three, 18-15, following a pair of blocks by Katie Wells and Kailee May, but that was as close as the Rams would get, falling 25-17 in the set.
For Fordham, Griffiths posted a team-high seven kills, while May had six kills and seven digs. Brittany Daulton added a match-high 12 digs, while freshmen Sara Konkel (9 assists), Mary Diamantidis (6 assists), and Maria Rodenberg (6 assists) split the setting duties.
In match two, Fordham was up two sets, but could not close out Bradley (4-3), as the Braves came all the way back to win the match in five sets. Final scores were 27-29, 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, and 15-13.
The opening set saw Fordham ahead 24-20 and serving for the set. Bradley then rallied for four straight points to tie the set at 24, and then earned a set point of their own at 26-25. Fordham held off Bradley with kills by Griffiths and Daulton to go back ahead and eventually win the set, 29-27, on a block by Griffiths and Daulton.
Set two saw the scored tied at 19 before Fordham got a kill by Daulton and two blocks from Sara Konkel to lead by three. The Rams went on to win the set, 25-21, with the final point on an ace by Daulton.
Bradley would not go away easily, as the Braves won the next two sets, 25-22 and 25-15, to force a deciding set. In the fifth set with the score tied at six, the Rams received kills from Jenna Hart, May, and Wells, and a service ace by Emily Atwood, to take a 10-6 lead. The Braves came back to tie the score at 11, and then sided out to 13 all. Bradley then closed the set on a Fordham attack error and a kill by Lauren Zerante to win the five-set marathon.
Griffiths paced the Rams with 16 kills, five digs, and five blocks, while Wells had 15 kills and five blocks. Daulton and Konkel each had double-double, as Daulton set a career-high with 14 kills to go with 11 digs and Konkel finished with a season-high 54 assists, 14 digs, and four blocks. Hart also chipped in 11 kills with Rodenberg and Atwood posting 19 and 10 digs, respectively.
Following the end of the tournament, Rodenberg was selected to the All-Tournament team.
The Fordham volleyball team will next be in action on September 10th and 11th, as it hosts the 10th Annual Rose Hill Classic at the Rose Hill Gym. The five-team, ten-match tournament will feature matches between Fordham, Harvard, Syracuse, Rider and Stony Brook with action beginning at 9:00 AM on both days.
Game Notes: In the first match, May passed Beth Crockett (981 - 1999-2002) for eighth place on the Rams' career kills list and then passed Katherine Burrell (981 - 2005-09) for fifth place on the career digs list. She now has 988 kills and 993 digs in her career... Wells recorded her 250th career block in the Georgetown match, becoming the seventh Ram to reach that milestone. She currently has 255 total blocks... With 16 kills against Bradley, Griffiths moved into fourth place on the Rams' career kills list with 1,157, passing Tasha Johnston (1,152 - 2003-06).
