Volleyball Sweeps Manhattan to Move to 4-0

Box Score

Riverdale, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team is 4-0 to begin a season for the first time since 2010 after sweeping the Manhattan Jaspers on the road Wednesday night. Reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Olivia Fairchild double-doubled for the first time this season, leading the Rams with 11 kills and 10 digs, while fellow sophomore Elise Benjamin matched a career-high with nine kills.
 
"We served pretty tough tonight and were smart with our attacks," Head coach Gini Ullery-Shrift remarked after the match, "We still need to focus on being more disciplined in our movement and continue to move at our fastest pace. We continue to grow each day. I thought Manhattan battled until the last point and challenged us throughout."
 
Fordham kept its momentum going from a weekend sweep at the University of New Orleans Invitational last weekend, dropping the rival Jaspers in straight sets for the win in the 37^th Battle of the Bronx. The win is the Rams' 25^th over Manhattan since the beginning of the series in 1980.
 
The Rams outnumbered the Jaspers in kills, 43-19, and began with 17 in the first set. Fordham took a quick 7-3 lead, forcing a Manhattan timeout, and bumped their lead up to eight, 16-8, to prompt another Jaspers break. However, the hosts used that second timeout to kickstart a big run, eventually cutting the lead to one, 21-20. Ullery-Shrift called a timeout herself to get her group refocused and it paid off, as the Rams took the set, 25-22, shortly thereafter, with freshman McKenna Lahr capping the frame off with a kill from classmate Sophia Plett.

 
The Jaspers held the pace in the first half of set two, leading, 12-10, in the early going, but the Rams went on a lightning-fast 7-0 run, with six kills and one ace, to take a 17-12 lead. Fairchild took credit for four of those kills, including three straight. The Rams wouldn't trail by less than four the rest of the way en route to a 25-16 lead.
 
Set three was more of the same, as the Jaspers battled in the early going, holding a slim 10-9 lead and joining the visitors at 12-all, before Fordham jetted out on a small run that would take them to the finish line. A service error by Zoe Lindsey gave the Rams the ball and the visitors scored five straight points, starting with a Lahr ace and followed by consecutive Benjamin kills before two Manhattan errors. The Jaspers got within four, 21-17, but another service error gifted possession back to the Rams. Kills from Lahr and senior Nicole Freeley saw off Manhattan for the victory.
 
It is the second sweep of the season, after the straight-sets victory over Alcorn State to round out last weekend's tournament. The Rams added 10 more aces, up to 43 on the year. The team came into tonight's match leading Division I with 33 service aces.
 
This squad will have a chance to become the first in program history to begin a season 5-0 when they take on Cleveland State in the home opener this Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., the opening match of this year's Rose Hill Classic. The match will be streamed live on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network. A WFUV broadcast is to be determined.