Volleyball Finishes Conference Road Slate at VCU, Davidson This Weekend

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team (10-14, 3-6 A-10) finishes its five-match road stretch with its first and only meetings of the season against VCU (16-10, 6-3 A-10) and Davidson (9-14, 4-5 A-10) this weekend before returning home for the final three contests of the regular season. The Rams currently sit seventh in the league standings, just one game behind Davidson for the last spot at the A-10 Championship.
 
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 began its month-long raffle two weeks ago 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.
 
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Last Time Out
Fordham struggled at Rhode Island last weekend, its lone match of the week, falling to Rhody in three sets. The Rams' attack struggled mightily in the first two sets, posting two of the lowest hit percentages of the year with -.048 in the first frame and .043 in the second, before bouncing back with .333 and 13 kills in the third. Rhode Island hit .329 in the match, .250 in both the first two frames, and tallying 16 kills to Fordham's 13 in the final frame. Olivia Fairchild tallied a match-high 12 kills, Kaitlin Morley racked up six with four aces, two assists, and seven digs, and both Maddy Walsh and Emily Fronk reached double-digit assists, with 12 and 10, respectively.
 
National/Conference Rankings
The Rams are no longer first in the country with the most service aces and have fallen down to seventh, with 162. The team's 1.74 aces per set mark ranks 16^th in the country. The Rams had been in the top-100 in several categories but after playing just one match last weekend, have fallen out, now sitting 109^th in total attacks (3,040), 130^th in assists (1,017), and 131^st in kills (1,087).
 
At the individual level, Fairchild's 50 aces remain the third-most total in Division I, while she remains eighth in kills with 344, sixth in points (480.5), and 23^rd in attacks (995). Walsh remains the A-10 leader in assists and ranks 40^th in the country with her 884 helpers. Freshman Kaitlin Morley has jumped up to 24^th and third in the conference with her recent outburst of aces, now with 35 on the year.
 
Series History vs. VCU
The Rams are knotted up at three matches apiece since their first meeting in 1997 when Fordham was victorious in four sets. Since VCU joined the Atlantic 10, they hold a slim 3-2 advantage over Fordham. Last year, Fordham won, 3-0, at home, while VCU took the opposite fixture, 3-2.
 
Scouting the Rams
VCU sits above Davidson tied for fourth, two games ahead of the Wildcats, but are the lowest among A-10 schools with a positive conference record because it has the weakest overall winning percentage. The Rams most recently have won three straight, with two road wins over Georges Mason and Washington, both 3-1 results, and a nonconference victory over Norfolk State in three sets. Losses against the top two teams, Dayton and Saint Louis, preceded that stretch, and before that VCU had three straight sweeps over Mason, GW, and La Salle.
 
The Rams offense is led by Alica Kandler's 228 kills but Julia Adler is right there with 218 and Vicky Giommarini has totaled 164 in less game action. Jasmin Sneed's .267 hit percentage is tops among attackers with Kandler and Adler hitting at .186 and .215 clips, respectively. Tyler Sroufe is the team's main setter and has tallied 731 thus far this season, while the team has the second-most aces behind Fordam, with 140. Kandler's 25 leads the way there. VCU is one of the conference's top defensive teams, with a league-best .164 opponent hit percentage, supplementing that with the second-most blocks (228.5) and digs (1,339). Sneed and Tori Baldwin are the two main defenders, with Sneed ranking near the top in the league with her 105 total blocks, 15 of them solo. The Rams have have players with at least 122 digs on the year, with Rebekah Strange digging out 424 balls.
 
Series History vs. Davidson
The Wildcats joined the Atlantic 10 in 2014 and the two schools never met before then. There have been only three meetings and Davidson holds a slim 2-1 lead all-time, with the Wildcats sweeping the two matches last year, 3-1, in the Bronx, and 3-0, on the road.
 
Scouting the Wildcats
Davidson sits a game above Fordham thanks to four wins over George Mason (2x), George Washington, and La Salle. The Wildcats did lose to the Colonials on the road last weekend in straight sets but for the time being, hold a one-game advantage over the Rams for the last spot in the postseason. Davidson hosts Rhode Island tomorrow night and rounds out the season with a home match against VCU and two tough road fixtures against Dayton and Saint Louis.
 
Davidson has similar numbers to Fordham across the board except defensively, where the Rams rank last in total blocks and the Wildcats rank first. Offensively, Davidson is near or at the bottom in most categories, but they have racked up an impressive 255.0 total blocks, including an eye-popping 75 solo swats. Davidson also has the third-most digs. Kelly Friers leads the way with 207 kills but hits at a .167 clip. Emily Franklin has 175 kills on the year and easily paces the squad with a .343 hit percentage. Mikayla Derochie is the team's setter with 593 assists and also supplies the most aces, with 24. Franklin is the A-10 leader in blocks, with an eye-popping 133 total blocks and 31 solo swats. Sabrina Shepherd is next with 82 blocks, 13 solo, and Derochie isn't just limited to setting as she has tallied 66 block assists on the year.
 
Up Next
The Rams return home for the final three matches of the regular season, hosting George Mason and George Washington next weekend. Friday's match against Mason is set to begin at noon and is the team's annual Field Trip Day featuring around 1,000 local schoolchildren, while Sunday's match against the Colonials will be the team's Senior Day, honoring lone senior Kristen Ostach. Fordham then hosts Rhode Island the following Saturday afternoon.