Oct. 18, 2012

Bronx, N.Y. - After two weekends on the road, the Fordham volleyball team is back in the friendly confines of the Rose Hill Gym on Friday, when the Rams host the Temple Owls in a crucial Atlantic 10 match-up for both teams. The Rams and Owls are tied with a 4-3 conference record for what would be the final playoff spot, if the season were to end today. Temple won the earlier meeting this season in three sets between the two schools in Philadelphia.

Fordham will look to avenge that loss as the Rams have won three of their last four home matches. Prior to that loss, Fordham had beat Temple in each of the last four meetings.

LIVE COVERAGE: GameTracker

LAST TIME OUT: Behind a double-double from Sarah Brown and a .427 team hitting percentage, the Xavier Musketeers swept a three-set match from the Fordham Rams on Saturday night at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Final set scores were 25-16, 25-14, and 25-11.

Xavier came out swinging in the opening two sets, as the Musketeers hit .370 and .371, cruising to a nine-point and 11-point set wins. Xavier then hit .556 with just one error in the third and final set to close out the victory.

For Fordham, Lisa Hipp was the top hitter with eight kills and four digs, while Brianna O'Neil and Brennan Delsing each had five kills and six digs. Sara Konkel ended up with 21 assists and five digs with Maria Rodenberg having eight digs.

Xavier's Sarah Brown had the lone double-double of the match with 14 kills and 12 digs, while Alex Blair and Ame White each had seven kills.

MILESTONES: Three Rams, Lisa Hipp, Maria Rodenberg, and Randi Ewing are all closing in on career milestones this weekend. Hipp needs six kills to reach the 600-kill plateau for her career, while Rodenberg is 13 digs shy of 800 for her career. Ewing continues to climb the career blocks list, moving into fourth all-time at Fordham and is 12 shy of 300 for her career.

A-10 LEADERS: Fordham currently has four players ranked among the Atlantic 10 leaders this season, led by junior Lisa Hipp. Hipp ranks sixth in the league with a 3.36 kills per set average, while being sixth in point per set at 3.83. Junior Sara Konkel is tenth in the league in assists per set at 8.69 with junior Maria Rodenberg and freshman Brennan Delsing among the service ace leader. Rodenberg currently ranks fouth (0.32 sa/s) and Delsing is tenth (0.27 sa/s).

WHO'S NEXT: The Fordham volleyball team will next be in action at home on Saturday, October 20th, when the Rams host the La Salle Explorers, beginning at 7:00 PM in the Rose Hill Gym.