Rams Take Two in West Virginia

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Navy Box Score | Canisius Box Score

The Fordham women's volleyball team got off to a hot start in the Mountain State, downing Navy and Canisius on the first day of the Golden Horseshoe Challenge in Morgantown, W. Va.
 
Game One
 
The Rams got their second week of the season underway in a winning fashion on Friday morning, downing Navy in straight sets.
 
Brennan Delsing registered her third double digit kill performance of the year, leading the Rams with ten.  Senior Sara Konkel led Fordham with 31 assists, while her classmate Maria Rodenberg tallied a game-high 13 digs and tied a career-high with three aces.
 
Set scores were 25-18, 25-21 and 25-17, respectively.
 
A Chandler Moore kill got Fordham on the board first on Friday morning and an impressive run gave the Rams an early 7-3 lead following a kill from Brianna O'Neil.  Fordham then held off a mid-set run from the Midshipmen before pulling away to seal the set.  Leading by one at 19-18, a Delsing kill kicked off a 6-0 tear that featured two service aces from Rodenberg and gave the Rams a 25-18 first set victory.
 
The second set proved much more evenly match that the first to start, as the two teams traded points until a Moore kill knotted the score at 14.  From there, the Rams rattled off two more unanswered, taking the lead at 16-14.  The score would never get closer than that over the remainder of the set, as the Rams used consecutive attack errors to close out the second, 25-21.
 
The Rams jumped out in the third set, taking an early 4-1 lead.  Navy slowly chipped away at the Fordham lead, tying the score at 12 and taking a one point lead on a Fordham attack error the next play.  The rest of the set, however, was all Rams.  Fordham outscored Navy 13-4 over the remainder of the match, sweeping the Mids in straight sets.
 
Game Two
 
With their backs against the wall down two sets to one, the resilient Rams rallied to top Canisius 3-2 on Friday afternoon.
 
Set scores were 21-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-19 and 17-15, respectively.
 
The win moves the Rams to 3-2 on the season.
 
Sophomore Brianna O'Neil had a career day for the maroon and white, setting a new personal best with 21 kills, while Lisa Hipp and Carina Thompson also turned in double-digit kill performances.
 
The Rams and Golden Griffs played even early in the first set, as a Fordham service error tied the score at seven.  From there, the Rams outscored Canisius 9-5 to take a four point lead at 16-12, but the Golden Griffs soon closed the gap.  With the score tied at 20, Canisius rattled off a 5-1 run to take the first set, 25-21.
 
In the second set, parity ruled early once again with the two teams playing to a 6-6 tie.  After the Rams worked to open up a lead at 13-10, Canisius responded and pulled within one at 14-13.  Fordham soon opened the lead back up to three at 20-17, but the Golden Griffs answered back once again and tied it at 21.  With a stalemate late in the set, Brianna O'Neil registered two kills to help push the Rams over the hump, taking the second by a score of 25-23.
 
The Rams fell behind early in the third and struggled to find their rhythm until later on in the set.  Trailing by as much as nine at 17-8, the Rams rallied, uncorking a 12-2 run to briefly take the lead at 20-19.  Canisius tied the score at 20 on the ensuing possession and the two teams traded points the rest of the way before a Fordham attack error tied the contest at 26.  The Golden Griffs then scored two consecutive points, taking the extended third set, 28-26.
 
Facing elimination in the fourth set, the Rams jumped out early.  A Moore kill made it 10-6, but Canisius managed to pull within one at 11-10.  With their lead diminished, the Rams rallied, outscoring the Golden Griffs 6-2 over the next eight points and extending their lead to five.  Canisius would get within three points of Fordham once more in the set, but the Rams closed out strong and forced a decisive fifth with a 25-19 victory.
 
After trading points to start the half, the Rams and Golden Griffs knotted up at seven in the fifth and final set.  Fordham scored four of the next five points to make the score 11-8, and it appeared as if the Rams might run away with the victory.  Following a timeout, however, Canisius tallied three in a row to tie the score at 11.  After a Gini Ullery timeout calmed the Rams down, the two teams went back to swapping scores.  Down 15-14, Brennan Delsing recorded a kill for Fordham before serving up an ace to give the Rams a one point lead.  On the ensuing possession, O'Neil registered her 21^st kill of the game, a new career high, and secured the Fordham victory.
 
The Rams will be back in action for the second day of the Golden Horseshoe Challenge tomorrow at noon when they take on host school West Virginia.  Following that game, they will take on Norfolk State at 4 PM.