Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team opened the home portion of its slate and the 16
th annual Rose Hill Classic with a pair of hard-fought losses, 3-2, to Marist and, 3-1, to Charlotte. With the results, the Rams fall to 1-4 on the season.
"Tough couple of matches today but they give us a good idea of how to train," Head coach
Ian Choi said, "We have a group where any athlete can sub in for any athlete. I think that does volumes for the growth of this team. I'm happy with how the freshmen continue to work hard and I think they're going to continue to learn at a fast pace. We'll come out of preseason scratched and bruised, but ready."
The Rams were impressive early, jumping on Marist from the get-go and taking the first set, 25-19, before holding off a late Red Foxes charge to go up two-nil, 26-24, in the second. The visitors turned the tides soon after, however, with a 25-22 third set victory to stave off defeat and then withstood a late Fordham charge, 28-26, in the fourth to force the decisive fifth frame. The Rams led for most of that set but fell late, 15-13.
Fordham hit .344 as a team in the first set compared to Marist's mark of .036 and carried that split through set two. After a combined 30 kills in the first two frames, the Rams mustered just nine in the third and, despite tossing up 15 in the fourth, the Red Foxes blitzed the hosts with 20 kills on 43 attacks (.326). Both teams had eight kills and three errors in the fifth set but it was a late flurry by the visitors that sealed the victory. With the Rams up 11-9 after kills by
McKenna Lahr and
Kaitlin Morley, the Red Foxes saw out their victory with a 6-2 run.
Morley led the way offensively with 19 kills, matching her career-high that she set at St. John's last weekend, with
Joey Landeros and Lahr just behind with 11 kills apiece.
Makaela Tanaka set up the offense to the tune of 43 assists, besting her mark of 40 a week ago against the Red Storm, and added a team-high two aces, as well. Defensively,
Morgan Williams led the way with 21 digs, followed by Lahr, with 12, and Morley, with 11, as the latter each notched a double-double. Senior
Olivia LaPorta chipped in four blocks to go with her eight kills.
Similarly in the second match, against Charlotte, the Rams raced out to a one-set lead, going up by as much as eight, 17-9, before the 49ers made a late rally to get close. Fordham saw out the frame, however, to take it, 25-21, with freshman Bella Ureña, on her birthday, racking up nine kills alone in the set. Charlotte rebounded well, storming past Fordham for a 25-15 second set victory, 18 kills to seven. The Rams made a combined 17 errors in attack over the following two sets as the 49ers saw out the match, led by Reeana Richardson's 24 kills on 37 attacks (.541).
Ureña finished as the Rams' leader in kills, with 10, while adding a pair of aces and three digs. Classmate
Claire O'Neil chipped in six kills, matched her season-high of three aces, and set a new personal best with five blocks. Sophomore
Sophia Plett got the start and tallied the team's third double-double of the day, with 18 assists and 11 digs.
Morgan Williams was solid in defense, once again, with 23 digs.
The Rams will look to wrap up the Rose Hill Classic with a win over Bryant tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. or a half hour after the completion of Charlotte/Marist, which begins at noon. The Fordham match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
