Box Score Aug. 26, 2011
Box Score
Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. -
After learning that Friday's match would be their only match of the weekend at the SFC Terrier Invitational due to Hurricane Irene closing down most of the New York area on Saturday, the Fordham volleyball team made the most of a bad situation, defeating the Rider Broncs in five sets at the Genovesi Center in Brooklyn Heights. Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-18, 23-25, and 15-12.
Replacing one of the more decorated senior classes in team history, the Rams got contributions from across the board, as newcomers, injured returnees, and returning starters hit career-highs in the five-set match, which began Fordham trailing 20-16 in the first set. The Rams then reeled off seven straight points for a 23-20 lead, highlighted by a kill and a block for both freshman Chandler Moore and sophomore Krissy Buongiorno. Buongiorno then registered the final point of a 25-22 first set win.
After Rider knotted the match at one set apiece, Fordham again used a 7-0 run late in the third set to grab a 22-17 lead. In that stretch, Fordham got a pair of service aces from senior Megan Arend and a pair of blocks from Buongiorno and Rose Diaz-Vazquez. After a sideout by Rider, Fordham clinched set three, 25-18, with two of the final three points credited to sophomore Lisa Hipp on a kill and a block.
Rider however would not go away, forcing a deciding set after a 25-23 win in set four.
The deciding set was a back and forth affair with Rider scoring the first five points and the Rams coming right back with six straight points. Rider eventually led 10-8 before a 6-0 run gave Fordham match point at 14-10. Hipp was a one-person wrecking crew with four kills in that stretch, and eventually scored the deciding point, giving Fordham a 15-12 set win and the match, three sets to two.
Overall, Fordham helped itself immensely at the service line and at the net. The Rams recorded 10 service aces to go with 11 team blocks.
Individually, Hipp recorded her first career double-double with career-highs of 13 kills and 10 digs, while Brittany Daulton also posted a double-double with a team-high 17 kills to go with 15 digs and a pair of aces. Randi Ewing also set a career-high with 13 kills to go with a .524 hitting percentage and six blocks. Arend, in her first extended action since October 2009 when she went down with an injury, posted a career-high four service aces and recorded 17 digs, the most for her since a 17-dig performance on October 4, 2009 against Hofstra.
Sophomores Sara Konkel and Maria Rodenberg split the setting duties as Konkel dished out 28 assists and five digs, while Rodenberg had a career-high 22 assists to go with six digs and a pair of aces.
Buongiorno, who missed all of her freshman season due to injury, made an immediate impact in her first action as a Ram with seven kills and five blocks, while freshmen Moore (9 kills, 3 blocks) and Diaz-Vazquez (5 blocks) also had a big hand in the Rams' season opening win.
With the cancellation of Saturday's matches, the Fordham volleyball team will next be in action on September 2-3, as the team competes at the Bucknell Invitational. The Rams will meet host Bucknell on Friday with matches against Manhattan and Dartmouth to follow on Saturday.
