Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team went out with a bang on Saturday afternoon to finish its 2018 campaign, defeating George Mason in a back-and-forth five-set thriller, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 17-15. With the win, the Rams improved to 10-17 overall and 3-11 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Patriots fall to 10-14 and 8-6, respectively.
"This was a great win. It validated our efforts and the autonomy over success," Head coach
Ian Choi said, "There was some deviation from the game plan but the team regained their focus and stuck to our strategy. It was also an epic symbolic win for us. The seniors all had a great performance in a match that couldn't end any other way but by a two-point margin in the fifth and final set. I hope it's a memorable one for the seniors and I thank them for their years of hard work for this program."
The Rams offense matched their season-high of 64 kills and were efficient in hitting .231, one of their highest numbers of the year and highest since a four-set win at George Washington on October 6
th. The defense also tallied its third-most blocks of the season, 13.0, and got into double figures for the first time in three weeks.
All four seniors got the start and were instrumental in the win.
Olivia LaPorta enjoyed an eight-kill night with five blocks, two digs, and a team-high two aces,
Natalie Martinez also tallied five blocks to go with four kills and four digs,
Breanna Jones had nine digs, and
Maddy Walsh assisted on 25 points while recording eight digs and four kills, one shy of her career-high.
George Mason committed 13 errors in the opening set, hitting -.043, to give the Rams an easy 25-18 victory but bounced back in a big way with 14 kills and no errors (.452) to even the match up. The two schools then traded 25-21 victories, Fordham taking the lead first then the Patriots answering, to set up the climactic final frame.
The Rams took an early lead in the fifth but the Patriots used a 5-0 run to take an 8-5 lead as the teams switched sides. Mason pushed the lead to four with a pair of kills but an error by Siron Hardy gave Fordham serve. A trio of
McKenna Lahr kills around a Hardy kill got the Rams within one, 11-10, but the Patriots moved to match point with a 3-1 run. Needing three straight points, the Rams answered the call with a block by seniors LaPorta and Martinez, an error by Peyton Ehmke, and a LaPorta ace to tie things up. Mason went up yet again through a Baily Williams kill but
Kaitlin Morley responded with her 12
th and final kill of the match. Two Patriot errors followed to give Fordham the hard-fought victory.
A day after Morley's big effort, it was Lahr who stepped up on Saturday, tallying a career-high 23 kills at a .345 clip to go with 13 digs and four blocks. Morley added 12 kills, four digs, and three blocks. Freshman
Claire O'Neil joined the starting lineup and was solid defensively, notching five blocks, two solo, with five kills.
Makaela Tanaka came off the bench for a season-high 21 digs to go with 22 assists.
Morgan Williams added 18 digs and five assists on the day but also solidified her single-season record of 4.28 digs per set. The previous record had stood for 24 years, Jenn Shea's mark of 4.10, set in 1994. Williams' 445 digs on the year are also the third-most in a single campaign, behind just Shea (464) and Stephanie Frost (481), and she surpassed Kailee May ('10) for fourth all-time with 1,221 career digs. The record is Frost's 1,655.
LaPorta, meanwhile, continued her climb up the all-time block lists and will finish her career with 217 block assists, fifth-most in school history, 238 total blocks, 10th-most, and 0.79 per set, the ninth-highest rate.
Elise Benjamin, though she didn't feature Saturday, finishes her junior season with the second-highest blocks per set mark in a campaign in program history, 1.35, while her career rate of 0.96 currently ranks third all-time. Morley also entered a single-season top-10, as well, with her 3.44 kills per set average ranking ninth all-time.
