Live StatsTwitter Updates @FordhamVBBRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's volleyball team (8-20, 2-9 A-10) concludes the home portion of its schedule Saturday evening when it welcomes third-place Rhode Island (17-7, 7-4 A-10) for a 5 p.m. Atlantic 10 matchup inside the Rose Hill Gym. It will be Senior Night for the three seniors in the program;
Brennan Delsing,
Abigail Konovodoff and
Brianna O'Neil will be honored with a ceremony prior to the start of the match.
Last Time OutThe Rams are coming off a three-set loss to first-place Dayton last Saturday night at home. Freshmen
Olivia LaPorta and
Natalie Martinez both had five kills, with LaPorta serving a match-best two service aces, while sophomore
Emily Fronk dished out 17 assists to pace the offense. Delsing recorded nine digs to lead the defense.
Fordham tallied the first point of the match, before Dayton scored five of the next six to take the lead for good at 5-2. The Rams stayed within three and crept back to within two at 14-12 until Dayton responded with three straight to stretch its advantage out to 17-12. Fordham, once again, fought back to within two at 20-18 after a kill from Martinez, but it was not enough, as the Flyers hung on for the 25-19 victory and a 1-0 lead.
The home team scored four of the first six points in the second set to take the early 4-2 lead. However, the lead was short-lived, as Dayton used a 9-2 spurt to take the lead for good at 11-6 while forcing Fordham to take a timeout. The Rams crawled their way back to within three at 13-10, but once again it was not enough, as the Flyers breezed to the 25-15 victory and a 2-0 lead.
Fordham opened up the third set on a 5-1 flurry that was capped by both service aces from LaPorta. Dayton slowly came back and took a brief lead at 8-7, before the Rams tied the set at 8-8 on a kill from freshman
Breanna Jones. But it was all Flyers after that, as the visitors took off with the next four points to start a match-ending 17-3 run to clinch the set, 25-11, and the match, 3-0.
Rhode Island2015 Season: 17-7 (7-4 A-10)
When: Saturday, Nov. 7 - 5 p.m.
Where: Bronx, N.Y. (Rose Hill Gym)
Last Meeting: Oct. 17, 2015 (URI won 3-1; 25-16, 25-12, 23-25, 25-18)
What You Need To Know: The Rams enter Saturday's contest having won five of six and six of eight after starting conference play 2-2. 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. The Rams have since loss to Dayton and Duquesne but defeated Saint Louis last time out in five sets. Franki Darnold leads the team in kills with 364 (second most in the A-10) and adds 187 digs and 23 service aces. Callan Kinnan is one of the top setter's in the league with 1,032 assists (third most in the A-10). She also adds a team-best 37 service aces, 78 kills and 220 digs. Defensively, Audrey Castro paces the Rams with 275 digs while chipping in 273 kills, 29 assists and 15 service aces. Marie Gilcrist is the team leader in blocks with 110 (third most in the A-10) to go along with 139 kills, and Layne Self is a big key at the net with 257 kills and 96 total blocks.
Up NextThe Rams return to action next Saturday, Nov. 14 when they travel to Richmond, Va. to take on VCU at 1 p.m., before concluding the season Sunday, Nov. 15 with a 12 p.m. match at Davidson in Davidson, N.C.
