Volleyball Rallies Twice But Falls on Friday Afternoon

Box Score

Bronx, N.Y. – It was a raucous environment two hours before the match even started, with the Rose Hill Gym jam-packed with local middle and elementary school students for the team's annual Field Trip Day, and the fast-paced and back-and-forth match certainly mirrored the frenzied record-setting crowd. The Fordham volleyball team rallied from down a set twice to force a fifth frame but ultimately fell to fellow postseason hopeful George Mason on Friday afternoon. With the loss, the Rams fall to 10-17 (3-9 A-10), while the Patriots improve to 7-18 (3-9 A-10) to join Fordham in a tie for seventh place in the league standings.

Late in the match, it was announced as Fordham's largest-ever crowd for a volleyball match in the Rose Hill Gym: 1,264 in attendance.
 
Fordham showed signs of the efficiency issues that has plagued its recent slate of matches in the first and third sets today but bounced back after both in terrific fashion, tallying 15 kills each in the second and fourth sets and playing well defensively, especially in the fourth set when George Mason was held to just five kills. The Rams led late in the fifth set, 12-8, after a 10-3 run but allowed their opponents to sneak back into things and steal the win.
 
Olivia Fairchild led all players with 23 kills at a .319 clip. In fact, after the first set that saw the freshman finish with just more errors (4) than kills (3) on 12 total attacks (-.083), Fairchild exploded with 20 kills and just four errors (.457). Fairchild added three block assists and four digs, plus her 52^nd ace of the season. During the match, Fairchild moved past both Lisa Hipp (2012) and Christi Griffiths (2007) into the number four spot for most kills in a single season with 453. She is 28 behind Val Bosticco's mark in 1990 and 32 behind Tasha Johnston's tally in 2006. Fairchild is unlikely to touch Bosticco's school record of 613, set in 1991.
 
Natalie Martinez came off the bench for 10 kills and five digs, plus two block assists, while the duo of Maddy Walsh and Emily Fronk each had 20 or more assists, the former finishing with 27. Grace Muller earned the start at libero and tallied a career-high 24 digs. Molly Oshinski finished with 12 digs, Kaitlin Morley added 10 to go with her eight kills, and Walsh chipped in 11 for another double-double. Nicole Freeley provided a spark off the bench with six kills (.444) and three block assists in limited action.
 
Fordham hosts George Washington on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Rams will honor senior Kristen Ostach before the match.