Volleyball Takes Part in Terrier/Rose Hill Classic This Weekend

Friday: Watch vs. St. Francis Brooklyn
Saturday: Watch | Live Stats
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team (3-1) will look to continue its early season momentum during this weekend's Terrier/Rose Hill Classic. It is the 15^th iteration of the Rose Hill Classic but this year, the Rams will play a lone Friday match on the road at St. Francis Brooklyn (1-4), before hosting NJIT (2-2) and Quinnipiac (4-1) on Saturday in the Bronx.
 
Friday's match will begin at 4 p.m., while Saturday's twinbill starts at 11:30 a.m. against NJIT and finishes with Quinnipiac at 4:30 p.m. Fans can follow along via the links above.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham hosted Manhattan on Wednesday night for the Rams' home opener and swept the Jaspers in straight sets in convincing fashion. The Rams controlled the first two sets with identical 25-15 scorelines before battling to a 26-24 finish in the third stanza. Reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Olivia Fairchild led all players with 13 kills and tied for a match-high three aces. Underclassmen Breanna Jones and Kaitlin Morley just missed out on double-doubles, needing one more kill and one more dig, respectively, to reach the mark. Freshman middle blocker Elise Benjamin continued her impressive start to the season defensively with six total blocks, followed by Fairchild's four and Morley's three. Sophomore transfer Maddy Walsh continued to rack up the assists with 39, while freshman libero Morgan Williams added 16 digs. Fordham never trailed over its first two sets but started out sluggish in the third coming out of the long break, with the Rams finding themselves down 7-1 before making a furious comeback via a 9-0 run with Williams serving. Manhattan would fight back to regain the lead on two occasions and the two schools traded points towards the end, as the Rams pushed a bit further to 24-22 to get to match point but a service error and an ace allowed the Jaspers to tie things up. A timeout from head coach Gini Ullery followed and Fordham won its next two points, on a vicious Jones kill and an attack error by the Jaspers for the victory.
 
Scouting This Weekend's Opponents
St. Francis Brooklyn started its campaign on the road in Virginia, dropping its first match of the year in five sets to Siena College on a neutral court, before bouncing back with a sweep against Norfolk State. The Terriers played a doubleheader the following day and fell twice, first to UMBC in five sets, and then to the hosts, Radford, in straight sets. On the way up, St. Francis Brooklyn stopped in Lawrenceville but lost to Rider, 3-1. Domenique Gerard paces the squad with 35 kills with Niehely Sosa close behind at 34. Milica Mladjenovic rounds out the trio, who have played all 16 sets, with 21 kills. Sosa's .247 is second on the team and first among the attackers. Angela Hudelson, who's .292 mark is tops, leads the team with 103 assists and is one of four players in the 20's in digs, far behind Alexa Caporuscio's 53.
 
To this point, NJIT has only taken part in the five-team La Salle Tournament in Philadelphia, splitting their matches. The Highlanders started out with a bang, winning their first two matches by a combine 6-1 score against Saint Francis University and Morgan State, before dropping a match against Quinnipiac, 3-1, and getting swept by the Explorers. Two players have totaled 40 kills to this point – Weronika Wiezik and Katarzyna Klocek, with both players hitting under .150 on the season. Liz Benson paces the team with 109 assists and Adriana Nieto leads with 48 digs and six aces. Four other Highlanders have tallied at least 23 digs, as well, including two above 30. Anneka Harris has impressed defensively with 12 total blocks.
 
Quinnipiac enjoyed the La Salle Tournament, going 3-1, with their one loss coming against the hosts. The Bobcats returned home, like the Rams, for their home opener on Wednesday night and, like Fordham, swept their opponent, Bryant. As a team, the Bobcats are hitting .219 on 218 kills with a sterling 35 aces. The attack is spread around by five players all over 30 kills on the season thus far. Jen Coffey is tops with 54 but not far behind at 50 is Natalie Alechko. Maria Pansari is the team's setter and has racked up 179 assists already, plus a team-high 10 aces. Alejandra Rodriguez's 68 digs is most on the team followed by Kat Miller's 53, and Alechko's 43. The Bobcats have two players in double figure blocks with Allison Leigh's 14 and Elizabeth Koo's 12. Miller has tallied nine.
 
Up Next
The Rams head to Boston for next weekend's Northeastern Tournament. Fordham will face the hosts on Friday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m., before taking on Binghamton at 10 a.m. and Presbyterian at 4:30 p.m. the following day.