Oct. 19, 2011

LIVE COVERAGE: GameTracker

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham volleyball team will have its annual "Dig Pink" Match for Breast Cancer Awareness this Friday at the Rose Hill Gym against the Xavier Musketeers. The squad will be holding raffles and silent auctions throughout the match, while offering free concessions as well. All proceeds from the raffle and auctions will benefit the Side-Out Foundation.

The Side-Out Foundation was founded to unite volleyball players and coaches in order to work toward raising breast cancer awareness, education and patient services. Money given to The Side-Out Foundation is contributed to organizations that serve breast cancer patients in the form of research, medical services and compassionate support.

The auction items for the evening include team gear donations from a number of Fordham sports teams, autographed items, and more, while regular raffle prizes include t-shirts, gift cards, and Fordham flex dollars.

Raffle tickets are $2 each, 6 for $5, or an arm length for $10.

The match between the Rams and Musketeers is set for 7:00 PM, while the auction will begin at 6:00 PM and run through the match with prizes handed out at the conclusion of the match.

SERIES HISTORY: The Fordham volleyball team looks to snap a six-match slide on Friday against the Xavier Musketeers at the Rose Hill Gym on "Dig Pink" night. Xavier has dominated the all-time series with the Rams posting a 27-1 record against Fordham, since 1995, Fordham's first year in the league. The only win for Fordham over Xavier came at the Rose Hill Gym in 2002.

LAST TIME OUT: Behind 14 team blocks and 12 kills by Bianca Rouse, the Charlotte 49ers topped the Fordham Rams, 3-1, in volleyball action at Halton Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. Final set scores were 25-19, 25-27, 25-21, and 25-23.

The 49ers earned a first set win by six, courtesy of a .500 hitting percentage, tallying 16 kills to just three errors.

In set two, Fordham fought off two set points to tie the score at 24. Each team then earned a sideout point with the Rams getting set point on a kill by Krissy Buongiorno. Fordham captured the set, 27-25, on a Charlotte attack error.

Set three went to Charlotte by four, as Rouse connected for four kills with Savannah Gaster having three kills and four blocks.

Fordham looked primed to force a deciding set, as the Rams led by seven, 17-10. Charlotte responded with a 12-3 run to take a 22-20 lead on a block by Laura Cantrell and Amanda Videmsek. Charlotte earned set point at 24-21, with Fordham holding off the first two on a kill by Kim Capicotto and an attack error. Charlotte though got the third one to go to win, 25-23, on an attack error.

For Fordham, Randi Ewing and Carina Thompson each had eight kills with Buongiorno, Daulton, and Lisa Hipp having seven apiece. Mary Diamantidis finished with a double-double, posting 12 assists and 13 digs, while Sara Konkel had 21 assists and nine digs. Maria Rodenberg also added a match-high 16 digs.

RAMS SET TEAM BLOCKS RECORD: In the team's match at Temple, Fordham broke the school record for blocks with 21 team blocks in the four-set win. It broke the previous mark of 16.5 set against St. Peter's in 1997.

In those 21 team blocks, both Randi Ewing and Krissy Buongiorno each had 10 total blocks, which tied the Fordham record for individual blocks in a four-set match.