Key Match Looms Saturday for Women's Volleyball at Rhode Island

Live Stats

BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's volleyball team (8-15, 2-4 A-10) travels to Kingston, R.I. Saturday for a key Atlantic 10 battle against fifth-place Rhode Island (13-6, 3-3 A-10), with first serve slated for 5 p.m. inside Keaney Gymnasium.

Fordham heads into the match in seventh place, one game behind URI. A win in the "Battle of the Rams" would navigate Fordham into the playoff picture, as the top six teams in the standings will compete at the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship in Washington, D.C. later next month.

Last Time Out
The Rams are coming off a three-set loss to Lehigh this past Tuesday inside the Rose Hill Gym. Freshman Natalie Martinez led the way on offense with 12 kills, while fellow classmate Breanna Jones almost collected a double-double with eight kills and a team-high 12 digs. Senior Brennan Delsing added 11 digs, and sophomore Emily Fronk also just missed a double-double with 29 assists and eight digs.

Rhode Island
2015 Season: 13-6 (3-3 A-10)
When: Friday, Oct. 17 - 5 p.m.
Where: Bronx, N.Y. (Keaney  Gymnasium)
What You Need To Know: The Rams enter Saturday's contest having rotated wins and losses over their last four, which includes a victory last time out at Brown and a three-set home victory over La Salle. Rhode Island constructed a nine-match win streak earlier in the season that included triumphs over Lehigh, Stony Brook, VCU and Davidson, all teams Fordham has lost to, with the exception to VCU. The streak ended with a five-set loss at Saint Louis, which occurred before another five-set loss at Dayton. Franki Darnold leads the team in kills with 281 and adds 134 digs and 16 service aces. Callan Kinnan is one of the top setter's in the league with 792 assists. She also adds a team-best 24 service aces, 58 kills and 176 digs. Defensively, Audrey Castro paces the Rams with 212 digs while chipping in 191 kills, 23 assists and 12 service aces. Marie Gilcrist is the team leader in blocks with 78 to go along with 111 kills, and Layne Self is a big key at the net with 204 kills and 76 total blocks.

Up Next
The Rams return to action Friday, Oct. 23 when they travel to Fairax, Va. to take on George Mason in an Atlantic 10 match slated for 7 p.m.

Also, fans are encouraged to circle Friday, Oct. 30 on their calendars for the annual "Dig Pink" Match to help support the fight against breast cancer. Fordham hosts Saint Louis at 7 p.m., and fans are also encouraged to wear pink for a "Pink Out".