BRONX, N.Y. -- It was a total team effort, as all 13 members of the Fordham's women's volleyball team contributed to its five-set victory over La Salle Saturday night inside the Rose Hill Gym. The Rams fell behind after dropping the opening set, 25-18, before taking the next two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-17. The Explorers tied the match up by taking the fourth set, 25-19, but Fordham persevered in the fifth and final set, 15-12. With the victory, the Rams improve 8-14 (2-4 A-10) on the season, while La Salle falls to 6-15 (0-5 A-10) overall.
Freshman
Natalie Martinez manufactured a great overall match for the home team. She led the way in kills with 11, produced a season-high seven service aces to fall one short of the program record for a five-set match, and recorded a season-high six total blocks for top honors in the match.
Freshman
Breanna Jones just missed a double-double for the second straight match with a team-high 12 digs and nine kills to go along with a season-best three assists, while sophomore
Emily Fronk dished out 26 assists and chipped in seven digs and two service aces.
Also on defense, senior
Brennan Delsing and sophomore
Grace Muller recorded nine digs, while fellow classmate
Molly Oshinski added eight. Freshman
Olivia LaPorta produced five total blocks and added a service ace and six kills on offense.
With the first set tied at 5-5 early on, La Salle tallied seven in a row and 10 of 12 to take a 15-7 lead. However, Fordham quickly rallied and scored seven of the next eight to cut the deficit to 16-14.
The Explorers responded with the next five and seven of eight to take a commanding 23-15 advantage and eventually the set, 25-18, for a 1-0 lead.
The Rams spotted La Salle a 2-0 lead in the second set, and Jones' kill started a 12-0 run that moved Fordham in front, 12-2. After the Explorers cut the lead to 16-10, a Martinez kill started a 4-1 spurt to navigate Fordham back ahead by nine at 20-11.
La Salle then made a move and used a 10-2 flurry to climb back within one at 22-21. But a kill from sophomore
Sarah Skelton and two attack errors allowed the Rams to escape, 25-21, and tie the match at 1-1.
Fordham led wire-to-wire in the third set and were never threatened. Leading 6-4, LaPorta started a 10-0 run with a kill, which increased the lead to 16-4. The Explorers fought back to within six at 22-16, but back-to-back kills from Martinez and Jones coupled with a service ace from Oshinski closed out the set, 25-17, for a 2-1 lead.
Eight ties occurred over the first part of the fourth set, with the last time coming at 14-14, as La Salle tallied four straight to take a 17-14 lead. The run turned into a 6-1 flurry, which stretched the advantage to 19-15, before back-to-back kills from LaPorta and Skelton made it 19-17. But the Explorers would go on to score six of the final eight points of the set for the 25-19 victory and a 2-2 tie in the match.
La Salle scored the first point of the final set, but the Rams led the rest of the way. Skelton's kill started four in a row and six of seven to give Fordham a 6-2 lead. After the Explorers crept to within two at 7-5, a service error and three straight Skelton kills stretched the lead out to six at 11-5.
The Explorers battled back one more time and cut the advantage to 14-12, but Delsing's first kill of the match clinched the set for the Rams, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
Fordham returns to action Tuesday, Oct. 13 when it welcomes Lehigh inside the Rose Hill Gym for a 7 p.m. contest, which will conclude the nonconference portion of the schedule.
