Volleyball Sweeps Manhattan in Home Opener

Box Score

Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team continued its impressive start to the season with its first sweep of the year against Manhattan on Wednesday night in the home opener inside the Rose Hill gym. With the win, the Rams improve to 3-1, while the Jaspers fall to 0-4.
 
Fordham controlled the first two sets with identical 25-15 lines, before the Jaspers played the hosts tight before ultimately falling, 26-24, in the third and final stanza.
 
"We came out tonight ready to compete. We served tough, giving us opportunities to earn points," Head coach Gini Ullery said, "We played well and are learning from our struggles, making quick adjustments, which is nice to see."
 
The Rams trailed just twice all night, both in the third set. Manhattan jumped out to a 7-1 lead after the long break but Fordham bounced back in a big way from its sluggish start. With freshman libero Morgan Williams serving, the Rams rattled off nine straight points to take a 10-7 lead that they would hold until the Jaspers fought back to make it 16-14. The two schools traded points until Fordham took a 24-22 lead on a Kristen Ostach kill. A service error and then a Manhattan ace followed to tie things up before Breanna Jones smacked a ferocious kill and the Jaspers committed an attack error to end the match.  
 
In the first two sets, Fordham hit at a .323 and .394 clip, respectively, before struggling in the third to the tune of .116. However, the Jaspers struggled all night with their attack, hitting -.059 in the third set and .045 overall. Fordham, second in the league with 28, added eight more aces on the night, including three straight from Williams at one point.
 
Reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Olivia Fairchild tallied a match-high 13 kills, while Maddy Walsh led all players with 39 assists. Williams enjoyed the most digs of any player, with 16. Both Breanna Jones and Kaitlin Morley came within one stat of a double-double, the former needing one more kill and the latter needing another dig.
 
The Rams are back in action this weekend for the Terrier/Rose Hill Classic, the 15^th iteration of the Classic, with Friday's match taking place in Brooklyn Heights at 4 p.m. Fordham will return home on Saturday for a doubleheader against NJIT and Quinnipiac, at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively, with both being streamed live on the A-10 Digital Network.