Sept. 23, 2011

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham volleyball team begins Atlantic 10 play on Saturday against the University of Rhode Island Rams in the annual "Battle of the Rams." Game time is set for 7:00 PM at the Rose Hill Gymnasium.

LIVE COVERAGE: Links to Live Video and GameTracker

SERIES HISTORY: Since Fordham joined the Atlantic 10 in 1995, Rhode Island has had the best of the match-up winning 21 of 29 matches. Lately though, Fordham has had the edge, winning seven of the last ten meetings, which included a split of two matches last season.

LAST TIME OUT: In a roller coaster match-up, the Fordham volleyball team took on Stony Brook on Wednesday in a wild affair that saw the momentum shift virtually every point. In the end, Stony Brook's duo of Alicia Nelson and Evann Slaughter was too much for Fordham, as they combined for 47 kills in a five-set match win. Set scores were 23-25, 25-20, 27-25, 27-29, and 15-10.

Set one saw Stony Brook get out to a five-point lead at 11-6, led by Slaughter with four early kills. The Rams battled their way back even at 15 all, and eventually led late at 23-22 on a kill from Randi Ewing. After Stony Brook knotted the set at 23, Fordham received back-to-back kills from Lisa Hipp and Sara Konkel to capture the first set, 25-23.

Set two saw Stony Brook in control from the start, posting a five-point win, 25-20. The biggest difference was the Seawolves holding Fordham to a .026 hitting percentage in the set, managing just eight kills to seven errors.

Stony Brook then grabbed a 2-1 set lead with a tight 27-25 set win in set three. Fordham had the initial set point at 24-23 on a kill by Rose Diaz-Vazquez, but kills from Stony Brook's Nelson and Slaughter gave the advantage back to the Seawolves. After a pair of side outs, Kelsey Sullivan and Taylor Gillie came up with a block for Stony Brook and the two-point win.

Fordham battled back to force a fifth set, as the two teams went to extra points once again. Fordham fought off four match points to pull even at 27 all on a kill from Brittany Daulton. Konkel then notched a service ace, followed by a Diaz-Vazquez kill to give the Rams the 29-27 set win, forcing a deciding set.

In the deciding set, Fordham trailed by one at 10-9, after Hipp's career-high 16th kill of the match, however, Stony Brook scoredfive of the final six points to win the match with a 15-10 fifth set victory.

For Fordham, the Rams had three players reach career-highs in kills, led by Hipp's 16. Ewing set a new high with 14 kills to go with four blocks, while Krissy Buongiorno had a career-high nine kills to go with a pair of blocks. Daulton finished with her fifth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs. Konkel and Mary Diamantidis also finished with double-doubles with Konkel having 29 assists and a career-high 17 digs, while Diamantidis having 17 assists and 12 digs.

DIAZ-VAQUEZ & DAULTON PICK UP ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Following the final regular season tournament of the season, two Fordham players have received All-Tournament this season: senior Brittany Daulton and freshman Rose Diaz-Vazquez.

Daulton was named to the Bucknell Invitational All-Tournament team after beginning the weekend with a career-high 24 kills against host Bucknell, hitting .378 with 11 digs. She then had seven kills and a career-high five blocks against Manhattan, and finished the tournament with 10 kills against Dartmouth. She also took home All-Tournament honors from the Brown Invitational, after recording double-figures kills in all three matches.

Diaz-Vazquez was named to the Rose Hill Classic All-Tournament team, as Fordham's lone representative. She posted a season-best 10 kills and a .444 hitting percentage in the Rams' win over Siena, and then matched that performance with 10 kills against St. John's.