Oct. 26, 2012

Bronx, N.Y. - With five conference games remaining, the Fordham volleyball team is right in the thick of the playoff hunt, sitting in a tie for the sixth and final playoff spot. The Rams look to improve their standing on Friday night, as the team hosts Butler for the first time as a conference opponent.

LIVE COVERAGE: GameTracker

LAST TIME OUT: After a disappointing loss to Temple on Friday, the Fordham volleyball was right back at it on Saturday night against the La Salle Explorers in the Rose Hill Gym. Behind a career-high 60 assists from Sara Konkel and big matches by Lisa Hipp and Randi Ewing, the Rams displayed plenty of resiliency in a 3-2 match win over the Explorers. Final set scores were 25-18, 18-25, 22-25, 25-20, and 21-19.

Fordham came out swinging in the first set, as the Rams connected for a .486 hitting percentage, making just one error. Lisa Hipp and Randi Ewing each had five kills for Fordham to lead the way in a seven-point set win.

La Salle bounced back with a seven-point win of their own in set two. The Explorers built a 10-1 lead and never looked back, as Kelly Scanlon registered five kills in the set.

The Explorers then took charge of the match in set three, as with the score tied at 22, the Explorers got two kills from Scanlon and a service ace by Breanna Mazalewski to win the set by three, 25-22.

Fordham rebounded in set four to knot the match at two sets apiece. With the score at 14-12 in favor of Fordham, the Rams got the push they needed, getting kills from Hipp and Ewing, as well as a La Salle error, to extend the lead to 17-12, and eventually win the set, 25-20. Hipp finished with six kills in the set, while Ewing had four.

Set five was a marathon with seven tie scores, all of which came from 12-12 on. The last tie was at 19 all, when Hipp recorded her sixth kill of the set to give Fordham its eighth match point. Fordham then came up with the one block they needed, as Ewing and Lindsay Ritchie blocked Scanlon's final attack to win the final set, 21-19.

For Fordham, Sara Konkel posted a career-high 60 assists to go with 13 digs and five kills, while Hipp had her third 20-kill match of the season, posting 24 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Ewing had a season-high 15 kills to go with six blocks and four digs with Carina Thompson adding nine kills, four digs, and four blocks. Maria Rodenberg had her third 20-dig match of the year with 20 digs to go with two aces with Brianna O'Neil adding a season-high 13 digs with eight kills. Ritchie also had a career-high four blocks to go with seven kills.

MILESTONES: Three Rams, Lisa Hipp, Maria Rodenberg, and Randi Ewing all passed career milestones this past weekend.

Hipp surpassed the 600-kill plateau for her career in the match against Temple, while Rodenberg passed 800 digs for her career in the La Salle match.

Ewing, who was named Atlantic 10 Co-Defensive Player of the Week, became the fourth Ram to surpass 300 career blocks against La Salle.

DIG PINK: Fordham volleyball will have their annual "Dig Pink" match on Saturday, October 27th. Fans can either make straight donations to the cause or pledge per team dig by the Rams. All money raised will go to 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.

WHO'S NEXT: The Fordham volleyball team will next be in action at home on Saturday, October 27th, when the Rams host the Saint Louis Billikens for the team's DIG PINK match, beginning at 7:00 PM in the Rose Hill Gym.