Volleyball Sweeps George Washington on Friday Night

Box Score

Washington, D.C. – The Fordham volleyball team swept George Washington in our nation's capital on Friday night to improve to 2-1 to start Atlantic 10 play for the first time since 2012. The Rams won a tight first set, 27-25, rallied from a nine-point deficit in set two to win, 25-22, and controlled another hotly contested final third set, 25-23, to take the match in the first night of a back-to-back. Fordham is back at .500 on the season and 2-1 in league play, while the Colonials fall to 6-10, 0-3.
 
"We executed our game plan tonight and did a great job of moving on and not letting anything deter us," head coach Gini Ullery said, "I'm so proud of this group and its fight."
 
The hosts took a quick 5-1 lead to start the evening before Elise Benjamin's kill got the Rams started on  a small run to even things up. Benjamin and Kristen Ostach, plus an attack error, put Fordham up 11-9 and the Rams would continue to hold a slim lead until later in the game. The Colonials went up 23-19 on a trio of kills and a block, but a service error gifted serve back to the visitors. Two more Colonial errors followed but Kaitlin Morley's service error gave George Washington a chance at the set. Freshman standout Olivia Fairchild gave the Rams a chance with consecutive kills, her fourth and fifth of the frame, but the Colonials were again a point away after a kill by two-way threat Chidima Osuchukwu. Maddie Brown gave Fordham hope, though, with yet another service error, and the Rams took the momentum and ran away with the win thanks to a clutch block from Molly Oshinski and Ostach, plus the set-winning kill from Ostach.
 
 George Washington was strong to open the second set, taking an early 10-4 lead. Fordham was struggling to start with just two of those points coming on kills. The Rams wouldn't be undone, though, and battled back. Two kills by Fairchild, an ace from Maddy Walsh, and a couple errors got the visitors within three. George Washington pushed ahead again, getting their lead back up to five, 17-12, before the Fordham floodgates opened. The Rams won seven of the next eight points to lead briefly, 19-18, before the Colonials tied things up. Fairchild broke the tie with a kill and the Rams would take the second set, 25-22.
 
The third frame was yet another hotly contested affair but one that Fordham led throughout. The Colonials kept things close and battled to the end but the Rams walked away with a 25-23 win and their fifth sweep of the year.
 
Fairchild notched her third straight double-double, with 18 kills and 11 digs, both match-highs. The freshman was again efficient, hitting at a .394 clip, and added a match-high three aces to get to 40 on the season to keep her near the top of the Division I leaderboard. Elise Benjamin shared match-high with five total blocks, while Maddy Walsh notched a match-high 30 assists. Morgan Williams was again in double figures with 10 digs.
 
The Rams are back in action tomorrow night at George Mason. That match will begin at 7 p.m.