Volleyball Falls in Five-Set Thriller Against Saint Louis on Saturday Night

Box Score

Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team carried its momentum from the second half of Friday night's battle with Dayton into Saturday night's match-up with Saint Louis, the Atlantic 10's runner-up the last two seasons, but fell in a five-set thriller at the Rose Hill Gym. With the loss, the Rams fall to 10-9 overall and 2-4 in league action, while the Bilikens improve to 7-11 and 4-1, respectively.

"It was great to watch the team battle tonight. We saw some great things in our execution but also struggled in taking care of the ball on our side of the court," Head coach Gini Ullery-Shrift said, "We understand that we need to be consistent to be successful; we had our moments against an aggressive Saint Louis program. We're proud of how we played against the level of competition this weekend and our growth as a team."
 
Fordham took an exciting opening set, 25-22, before the Bilikens fought back with a comfortable 25-16 result in the second. Out of the break, the hosts were fired up and held on down the stretch for a 26-24 win. Saint Louis forced a final frame with a 25-21 fourth set and coasted to a 15-8 result to take the match.
 
Olivia Farichild led the way with her second straight double-digit kill effort, posting 15 kills to go with seven digs, four blocks, and five more aces. Fairchild and Saint Louis' Sien Gallop entered the match both in the top-three in the country in aces and Fordham's standout sophomore bested her rival on the baseline, now up to 46 on the season compared to Gallops' 43.
 
Olivia LaPorta and Kaitlin Morley each notched nine kills, the former adding a pair of blocks and the latter tossing up two aces and tallying 15 digs. Maddy Walsh finished with 41 assists and eight digs, plus three kills, while Morgan Williams recorded a match-high 20 digs. Elise Benjamin made her fifth start of the season, and first in several weeks after an injury layoff, to post a season-high five blocks to go with three kills.
 
The two schools kept things even throughout the opening set until the Rams finished with a flourish, taking five of the final six points after the Bilikens had gone up, 21-20, on Fordham's serve thanks to a Maya Taylor kill. A Kennedy Cordia service error gave possession back to the Rams and Fairchild smacked a pair of aces to take a two-point lead, 23-21, before hitting a service error of her own. An attack error by Gallop preceded an emphatic Morley kill down the far sideline for the set.
 
Saint Louis used an early 6-0 run to take a 10-5 lead in the second set to establish some early dominance but the Rams fought back to cut the deficit to one, 11-10, with a 5-1 run of their own. However, the visitors buckled down and surged ahead for an eventual 25-16 win.
 
It was Fordham's turn to enjoy early dominance in set three, maintaining a steady lead that crept up to 12-7 midway through. The Bilikens fought back, though, and eventually usurped the hosts to take a slim 15-14 advantage. The two sides went back-and-forth until a quick 3-0 run for Saint Louis gave them a 23-21 lead on two kills and an attack error, forcing a Fordham timeout. The Rams used the break well and rallied. LaPorta got up for a big kill at the net but the Rams were put to the sword after another Taylor kill got the Bilikens to set point. Not to be counted out, Fordham rattled off four points to win the set, on a McKenna Lahr kill, and two Fairchild aces sandwiched around a thunderous double block by Lahr and Benjamin, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
 
The Bilikens rebounded in set four, again utilizing a late surge to thwart the Rams, fending the hosts off down the stretch and forcing set five. Saint Louis kept its foot on the gas in the final stanza, took a 4-3 lead, and never looked back, taking the set, 15-8.
 
Fairchild's 46 aces this year are already fourth-most by a sophomore in school history. After tying for eighth-most in a season a year ago, with 57, she is just 10 aces away from re-entering the single-season top-10 this year, and six away from entering the school's all-time top-10.
 
Walsh's 41 aces on the night help her ascend to ninth all-time with 1,418 career assists.
 
The Rams finish their four-match homestand with a 2-2 record and now head to the road for next weekend's contests at La Salle and Duquesne. First up are the Explorers on Friday night at 7 p.m.