Volleyball at Rhode Island on Saturday

Live Stats
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team (10-13, 3-5 A-10) continues its lengthy road stretch with one contest this weekend, at third-place Rhode Island (11-9, 6-2 A-10), on Saturday, October 22, at 5 p.m.   
 
Dig Pink
The Fordham volleyball team is working to help raise money for the Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care's Bronx Oncology Living Daily program. Through the program, breast cancer patients can access free wellness and support services, including BOLD Wellness Workshops and the BOLD Buddy Patient Navigation Program. The BOLD Living program helps underserved breast cancer patients throughout the Bronx adhere to and complete their breast cancer treatment.
 
The team will began its month-long raffle last Friday night and will announce the winners of several gift cards, two MAC product bags, a Tiffany's silver jewelry box, a Fordham swag bag, a Montefiore swag bag, and both Men's and Women's basketball tickets on Friday, November 4, during Field Trip Day.
 
To make a donation, please click here.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham dropped both contests last weekend on the road at Duquesne and La Salle. The Rams battled the Dukes hard but lost in three sets despite never trailing by more than four in any set. Small runs by the hosts eventually did them in. Olivia Fairchild was tremendous yet again and racked up a program-record, for a three-set match, 23 kills, one off her career-high. Maddy Walsh assisted on 35 points and added 11 digs. Defensively, the team was solid with seven total blocks, but on the attack, the Rams hit at just .211, including Fairchild's .255 mark. On Sunday, Fordham and La Salle locked in a great five-set battle that saw the two schools exchange sets and go down to the wire in the fifth, with the hosts eventually gaining their first conference win. Fairchild again made noise by besting her previous career-best by 10 kills and falling just short of Val Bosticco's 26 year old record for most kills in a match. The freshman's 34 kills came at an impressive .347 clip, but the team as a whole hit just .176. The team had a season-high 82 digs, including Fairchild's 12 for her ninth double-double, and Walsh's career-high 14 to go with her 52 digs. Fairchild was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for a third time for her efforts.
 
National/Conference Rankings
The Rams are no longer first in the country with the most service aces, as now both Northern Arizona and Oral Roberts have overtaken them. Fordham stands alone in third with 158 aces, nine behind the former. The team's 1.76 aces per set mark ranks 14^th in the country. Elsewhere in the top-100, Fordham ranks 58^th in total attacks (2,969), 60^th in assists (992), 66^th in kills (1,062), and 92^nd in digs (1,219).
 
At the individual level, Fairchild and classmate Kaitlin Morley form a 1-2 punch in the A-10 in aces with 50 and 31, respectively. Fairchild is third in the nation with her mark and Morley, 28^th. With her most recent outburst, Fairchild is up to seventh in the country with 401 kills, also becoming the eighth Ram in school history to reach that mark in a season. The Phoenix native is also sixth in the country with 467.5 points and 0.56 aces per set, and also 14^th with 965 total attacks. Walsh sits just inside the top-15, at 14^th, with 872 assists this year, also leading the conference, while Morgan Williams' 332 digs rank 109^th in the country.
 
Series History
The Rams are just 9-28 all-time against Rhode Island dating back to their first year in the Atlantic 10 in 1995. Fordham got its first victory in 2000 in straight sets on the road. Between 2004 and 2012, Fordham held a 8-5 margin, but the (other) Rams have now won six straight, including two four-set wins last season.  
 
Scouting Rhody
Rhode Island are in third place and have only dropped two contests against the two schools ahead of them, Duquesne and Dayton. Like Fordham, they were also in Pennsylvania last weekend, but picked up a sweep at La Salle. Rhody started conference play with four straight sweeps, two at home against the Dukes and Explorers, and then road wins over George's Mason and Washington. The Rams are not in the top-100 in any categories nationally but have a solid all-around team. Audrey Castro paces the team offensively with 262 kills and 294.0 points, while Layne Self's 88 blocks are tops on the team, fourth in the conference, and 63^rd in the country. Self also has the team's highest hit percentage at .340. Callan Kinnan is the team's setter and has assisted on 743 points.
 
Up Next
The Rams return to their normal two match schedule next weekend, finishing their five-match road swing with visits to VCU and Davidson on Friday, October 28, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, October 30, at 1 p.m., respectively. It will be the only time Fordham faces either school in the regular season.