Photo Gallery
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team entered Friday's home opener against Cleveland State with a chance to become the first squad in program history to begin a season with five straight wins but, missing three starters, fell to the Vikings in straight sets, 25-19, 25-21, 29-27, to fall to 4-1 on the year. The Vikings improve to 2-2 with the victory.
"Today we competed tough and really stuck to our gameplan. The girls made adjustments and we saw it pay off defensively," Head coach
Gini Ullery-Shrift said, "We are proud of this group and their resilience today and look forward to finishing strong against Rider tomorrow."
The Rams came out of the gate hot and led in the very early going, kills flowing from
Olivia Fairchild,
Natalie Martinez, and two from
Breanna Jones, but the Vikings kept their composure and took an 11-6 lead with a 7-2 run, forcing a Rams timeout. The two sides exchanged points until Cleveland State conjured another run, stretching its lead to eight, 19-11, prompting a second home timeout. A Fairchild kill and a couple visitor attack errors brought Fordham closer but the Vikings saw out the set with a 5-3 run.
The Rams struggled with service errors in the second set, mishitting on five attempts, on top of the four in the first set, which switched possession several times. Sloppy play affected both teams but less so for the visitors, who saw out a comfortable 25-21 second-set win. Sophomore
Kaitlin Morley, who didn't appear in the first frame, came off the bench to record a team-high six kills, plus three digs.
Fordham returned from the extended break with poise and purpose, attacking aggressively and taking a quick 6-2 lead on kills by Fairchild (two), Morley, and an ace by Oshinski. The Vikings battled but Fordham kept its foot on the pedal, keeping a distance and the visitors were forced to call another timeout after two emphatic Fairchild kills had the hosts up, 13-7. After yet another kill from the sophomore standout, putting the hosts up, 17-11, the Vikings went on a run, tying the game up at 18-all with a 7-1 stretch. Jones stopped the bleeding and Morley added two kills around a Fordham error and Alexis Middlebrooks kill, 21-20. Middlebrooks tied it up with a kill and the teams traded two-point runs to make it even at 23-23 before Middlebrooks broke the tie with an emphatic slam. With a sweep within reach, the Vikings made an illegal substation, marking the team's second delay of game in the set and a red card, gifting Fordham a point and possession, tying the set up again, 24-24. The Vikings took the first point but Gina Kilner committed a service error on the ensuing possession, followed by an attack error by Hall to put Fordham up one. Mariah Carrero-Johnson stepped up for the visitors with two consecutive kills but this time it was Fairchild to match her opponent with a cross-court spike. The sophomore's service just hit the top of the net, fell back, and Shannon Grega's ace on the next play gave Cleveland State the win.
Fairchild led the way with a game-high 16 kills at a .300 clip, while Morley, who didn't appear in the first set, came off the bench to match her career-best with 14 kills at a .464 clip. The former notched her second consecutive double-double, adding 11 digs. Freshman
Sophia Plett, starting for
Maddy Walsh, assisted on a season-high 34 points. The Rams, as a team, could only muster 12 other kills and hit .192 as a group, also committing at least four service errors in each set for a total of 13.
The Rams were the last unbeaten team in the Atlantic 10. They will host Rider tomorrow to round out the Rose Hill Classic at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the A-10 Digital Network.
