Volleyball Rounds Out Nonconference Slate at Stony Brook Tuesday

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team (7-7) will look to rebound from two Saturday losses when it heads to Stony Brook (3-10) on Tuesday night. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and can be seen live, for free, via the link above.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams went 1-2 at this past weekend's Lion Invitational, marking the third straight tournament that the team has finished with that mark. Still, Fordham is 7-7 heading into its' final nonconference contest of the year, looking to better 2013's 7-8 record in nonconference matches to start that year, head coach Gini Ullery's first season in the Bronx. The Rams sit in fifth in the Atlantic 10 currently.
 
Fordham defeated Hartford in a five-set thriller that saw the Rams come from behind down two sets to one, before dropping both matches on Saturday, against Providence and Columbia. Freshman Olivia Fairchild was once again, for the fourth time, named Fordham's representative on the All-Tournament team after finishing with 49 kills (.156) with 27 digs, including two double-doubles and a match-high three aces against Providence. Kaitlin Morley was next with 25 kills in 11 sets (2.27 k/s) but hit at a .053 clip. Morley tied Fairchild with a team-high five aces on the weekend. Natalie Martinez was a major factor in the Rams' comeback against Hartford, and finished her weekend with 17 kills at a .184 clip, adding four aces and five blocks. Kristen Ostach's .220 hit percentage over her nine sets and 15 kills was tops in the squad, while Elise Benjamin's seven total blocks, including two solo, was also best on the team. Sophomore Maddy Walsh continued to pad her lead atop the A-10 with 116 more assists, giving the Texas native 551 on the year.
 
As a team, the Rams struggled with their offensive efficiency, recording their two lowest attack percentage marks of the season, the only two matches this season under .100, on Saturday.
 
National/Conference Rankings
At the national level, the Rams are in a three-way tie for the most aces in the country alongside Oral Roberts and Northern Arizona. Fordham's 1.96 aces per set mark is 10^th. Elsewhere in the top-100, Fordham ranks 57^th in total assists, with 614, 59^th in both kills (657) and total attacks (1,826), and 71^st in digs, with 759. Fordham leads the A-10 by a wide margin with 108 aces on the year, 29 more than La Salle's 79, but find themselves in the bottom five in all other major stat categories.
 
On the individual level, Fairchild ranks eighth in the country with her 0.58 aces per set mark and third overall with 32, while ranking atop the A-10 in both categories. Her 224 kills and 4.07 kills per set rank second in the league but 13^th and 46^th in the country, respectively. Fairchild is also seventh in the nation with 265.5 points. Kaitlin Morley's 19 aces are fourth in the league and 57^th in the nation. Morgan Williams is fourth and 70^th with 215 digs, while Walsh has 42 more assists than second-most Kathryn Wood of La Salle in the league and sits 12^th nationally.
 
All-Time Ranks
Tuesday night's match represents the midway point of the 2016 campaign. If the season were to end today, here is where several Rams would rank in the school's single-season record book:
 
Fairchild would have the best kills per set average (4.07) by a pretty wide margin. Tasha Johnston's 3.82 in 2006 is currently tops. Her 224 kills in the first half, if kept up at her current pace, would put the freshman in the back half of the top-five. Fairchild's 0.58 aces per set clip would rank fourth all-time and her current pace would place her sixth. Maddy Walsh would certainly enter the top-10 at her current assists pace, while her 10.02 assists per set average would rank eighth. Morgan Williams' 3.93 digs per set rate would rank second all-time and isn't too far off Jenn Shea's long-standing record of 4.10. Williams would fall somewhere in the middle of the top-10 at her current pace.
 
Scouting the Opposition
The Seawolves are 3-10 heading into Tuesday night's encounter, having lost four of their last five, but coming off a five-set victory over Fort Wayne at home. Before that, Stony Brook fell to American at home in four sets and dropped all three matches at a tournament at Rhode Island, to the hosts, Notre Dame, and San Diego State. Their other two wins have come over Iona, 3-1, at home and in straight sets against Stetson in Orlando, Fla. Head coach Coley Pawlikowski is in her fourth season at the helm of the program. McKyla Brooks leads the team with 120 kills but is followed closely by Liz Pulver's 115. Brooks' .311 attack percentage, however, is easily the best mark in the squad. Morgan Kath is the team's setter and has amassed 420 over her 47 sets this season, good for a hair under nine per set. Maria Poole, who has 93 kills on the year, leads the team with 14 aces but also 25 service errors. Defensively, Kardasia Hitchcock's 116 digs paces the team, but she is helped by Melann Amory (88) and Jordan Gels (78). Brooks is a major factor on the block, as well, with 22 total blocks, including five solo, while Taylor Wilson (18), Kath (13), and Gels (13) are also important.
 
Up Next
The rest of the season will be Atlantic 10 action, starting with La Salle and Duquesne this weekend on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Friday's match against the Explorers is set for a 7 p.m. start and will be broadcast live on the A-10 Digital Network.