BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's volleyball team lost a hard-fought match to Robert Morris, 3-0, in Saturday's championship round of the Rose Hill Classic inside the Rose Hill Gym, as the Rams were defeated by scores of 25-10, 25-22 and 25-20. With the loss, Fordham falls to 2-5 on the season, while the Colonials improve to 5-2 overall.
Sophomore
Molly Oshinski almost collected her first career double-double, as she tied a career high in kills with nine to lead the Rams while adding nine digs. She also recorded a .562 hitting percentage. Fellow classmate
Sarah Skelton added eight kills and seven digs, while senior
Abigail Konovodoff came off the bench to dish out a team-best 23 assists. Sophomore
Clarissa Cartledge was once again the leader in digs with a game-high 14.
Fordham started in a 6-0 hole to start the first set and never covered, as Robert Morris jumped out to a 12-2 lead. The Rams briefly stopped the bleeding with three straight points and continued to trail by seven at 13-6. However, the visitors caught fire once again and closed out the set on a 12-4 run to win by a score of 25-10.
Back-to-back kills from Konovodoff and senior
Brennan Delsing started Fordham out with a 2-0 lead in the second set. After the Colonials tied the set at 5-5, kills from junior
Kristen Ostach and Skelton moved the Rams back in front by two at 7-5.
Still leading by two at 9-7, Fordham saw the Colonials score four straight and five of six to take their first lead of the match. Facing a 14-11 deficit, the Rams battled back and used three Oshinski kills and two more from Ostach to regain the lead at 17-16.
Fordham then stretched its advantage out to 19-17, which forced a Robert Morris timeout, before a block from Konovodoff produced a 20-17 lead for the Rams. But the Colonials then charged back and tallied four in a row to recapture the lead at 21-20.
Konovodoff forced yet another tie at 21-21 with a kill, but Robert Morris scored four of the five final points to win the second set, 25-22, and take a 2-0 lead.
The third and final set was tight throughout and was tied three times at the start, before Robert Morris went eventually went in front 9-6. Fordham clawed back to within one at 11-10 after back-to-back kills from Oshinski and Skelton.
Robert Morris responded with three straight points to stretch its advantage to 14-10, before a 6-2 flurry, which featured a pair of kills and a block from Skelton, tied the set at 16-16 to force a Colonials' timeout.
The visitors came out of the timeout and scored the next two points and five of six to take a 21-17 lead and force a Ram timeout. Oshinski recorded a kill after the stoppage of play, but it was not enough, as the Colonials closed out strong and took the third set, 25-20, and the match, 3-0.
After the conclusion of the tournament, the following were named to the Rose Hill Classic All-Tournament Team:
MVP: Liz Campbell (RMU)
Kristin Thompson (RMU)
Leah Dunivan (RMU)
Alyssa Sinnette (Georgetown)
Symone Speech (Georgetown)
Rylee Hunt (Niagara)
Kristen Ostach (Fordham)
Up NextFordham returns to action this Tuesday, Sept. 8 when it travels to Riverdale, N.Y. to take on Manhattan in the "Battle of the Bronx" match, with first serve slated for 7 p.m.
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