Box Score Sept. 1, 2012
Box Score
| Box Score
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. -
Still searching for its first win of the season, the Fordham volleyball team looked to one of its veterans on Saturday to lead the way, and junior Lisa Hipp did so. Hipp recorded a career-high 26 kills in a five-set win over the NJIT Highlanders at the Volley in the Valley Tournament in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The win came in the second match of the day, as Fordham dropped its opener to Hartford in five sets.
With the split, Fordham is 1-6 on the season.
In match one, despite a then-career-high 22 kills from Lisa Hipp and a season-high 20 kills from Brianna O'Neil, the Rams dropped the opening match of the tournament to Hartford in five sets. Final set scores were 15-25, 25-20, 28-26, 22-25, and 15-8.
The Rams quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set behind two kills from Hipp. The lead extended to 15-4, following three consecutive blocks by the Rams where Carina Thompson was in on all three. The Rams would win the set by 10, hitting .308 as a team to Hartford's -.111.
Set two saw Hartford take the early lead at 7-3 with Fordham pulling to within 9-7 on a kill by O'Neil. A 6-1 run by the Hawks gave Hartford a comfortable lead that they would hold onto, evening the match at one set apiece.
Set three was tight, featuring 12 tie scores and eight lead changes. With Hartford having set point at 24-23, Hipp recorded back-to-back kills giving Fordham a set point at 25-24. The Rams were unable to capitalize on the set point, and with the score later tied at 26, the Hawks got two points off Fordham errors to win the third set, 28-26.
In the fourth set, both teams had the offense clicking, as each squad hit over .360 for the set. In the end with the score tied at 20, Fordham scored five of the final seven points, including the last two on kills by O'Neil, to force a deciding set at 25-22. O'Neil and Hipp each accounted for seven kills in the set for the Rams.
The final set began even at five before two aces, two Fordham errors, and a Hartford kill gave the Hawks a 10-5 edge and a lead they would not relinquish.
For the Rams, Hipp registered her second double-double of the year with a career-high 22 kills to go with 13 digs, while O'Neil had a season-high 20 kills to go with four blocks. Brennan Delsing also chipped in 12 kills and seven digs with Carina Thompson tying a career-high with seven blocks. Abigail Konovodoff and Sara Konkel split the setter duties, as Konovodoff had 34 assists and Konkel had 23 assists.
The second match saw Hipp record a now career-high 26 kills, as the Rams came back from 2-1 down to defeat the NJIT Highlanders in five sets, 20-25, 25-20, 15-25, 25-23, and 15-10.
The 26 kills by Hipp were the most by a Ram in almost 13 years, when Tihana Sarlija had 27 kills at Duquesne on November 13, 1999.
With the match tied at one set apiece, NJIT took a two sets to one lead, hitting .355 as a team in a 25-15 third set win.
NJIT then looked primed to win the match in set four with a 23-20 lead and Fordham using its final timeout. Following the timeout, NJIT committed a service error which was followed by consecutive kills by Randi Ewing and Hipp to tie the score at 23. Two attack errors by the Highlanders concluded the set, as Fordham forced a fifth set for the second time on Saturday.
In the deciding set with the score tied at five, Fordham played role reversal from its earlier match, as it was the Rams who reeled off five straight points for a 10-5 lead, led by two kills from Hipp. NJIT closed back to within two at 12-10, but two NJIT errors and a kill by Delsing finished the match in favor of Fordham.
Besides the career-high 26 kills, Hipp also added five digs and four blocks, while O'Neil had 10 kills. Ewing finished eight kills and seven blocks with Thompson adding nine kills. Konovodoff and Konkel once again split the setter duties, as Konovodoff ended up with 29 assists and five digs with Konkel dishing out a double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs. Defensively, Maria Rodenberg and Michele Keathley each had 14 digs.
The Fordham volleyball team will next be in action on Sunday afternoon, September 2nd, when the Rams play the host school, the Marist Red Foxes, at 2:00 PM in the McCann Center.
