Volleyball Co-Hosting Battle of Big Apple this Weekend

Columbia: Watch | Live Stats
Saturday's Doubleheader: Watch (only St. Francis Brooklyn) | Live Stats
 
Bronx, N.Y. – After a record-setting performance against Manhattan on Wednesday night, the Fordham volleyball team has a quick turnaround for the Battle of the Big Apple, first traveling to Columbia on Friday at 6 p.m. before hosting St. Francis Brooklyn and Dartmouth on Saturday in the Bronx.  
 
Two of the three matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ at the links above. Fans can follow all three via live stats, as well.
 
Last Time Out
Carrying a two-match win streak into Wednesday's 38^th Battle of the Bronx against local rival, Manhattan, the Rams brushed the Jaspers aside in their second consecutive sweep and set a new mark for attack percentage in a three-game match. The old record, .462 against Canisius in September 2004, had stood for nearly 14 years to the day but this year's team hit .485 as a group. Outside of McKenna Lahr, who struggled with six errors in attack compared to her eight kills, just three other players committed one of their own. Three players with at least six kills hit .471 or better, including Kaitlin Morley's mark of .692 with 10 kills on 13 attacks, and Claire O'Neil who had six kills and no errors on nine attacks. The match before, the team had hit a season-high .262 with a season-low nine errors. The squad matched the latter and blew past the former.
 
The Jaspers hung around in the first set although the Rams led for most of it, eventually gutting out a 25-21 victory. Fordham then turned on the jets and coasted to second and third set wins of 25-12 and 25-13, respectively. Coach Ian Choi's balanced offensive gameplan continued with four players totaling between six and 10 kills. Makaela Tanaka continued her solid setting with 35 assists to go with two kills and two aces. Morgan Williams added two aces of her own and 11 digs.
 
Series Histories
Columbia – The Lions hold an all-time 10-4 advantage since 1983. Columbia won the first four contests in the series and have won the most recent four meetings, as well, dating back to a five-set win in Manhattan in 2010. All four of these contests have taken place at Columbia, with last year's sweep being the most recent.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn – Fordham holds an 11-4 all-time series advantage over the Terriers dating back to 1979, one of the program's earliest rivalries still going today. After 17 years between matches, the two schools met in the Bronx in 2012 and have played three other times since. Each school has won twice during that time, with Fordham's sweep last year at Columbia being the most recent. In that match, the three-set attack percentage mark nearly fell as the team finished with 44 kills and nine errors on 79 attacks (.443). The Rams are 4-1 in the Rose Hill Gym all-time.
 
Dartmouth – The all-time series is tied 3-3 since 1991. Fordham won twice that year on neutral ground and again in 1992 but the second meeting that year went Dartmouth's way. Since, the Big Green have taken the most recent matches, in 2011 and 2014, in straight sets. This will be the first time a match in the series will be played on either's home court.
 
Atlantic 10 Ranks
As a team, the Rams rank within the top-five in most of the league's categories, partially due to playing the second-most matches thus far, tied with three others. The Rams rank first with 54 aces but also first with 212 errors. They rank second with 473 kills and 448 assists, third with 1.35 aces per set and 75 total blocks, fourth with a .196 team hit percentage, 548 digs, and 1.88 blocks per set, and fifth with 11.82 kills per set and 11.20 assists per set.
 
Individually, Kaitlin Morley's 124 kills and 3.26 per set rate rank fourth and sixth, respectively. Claire O'Neil sits 14^th in the league with a .263 attack rate and joint-third with 12 aces. Makaela Tanaka's 265 assists and 8.55 per set clip rank fifth and sixth, respectively. Morgan Williams' 157 digs and 4.03 digs per set rank third and sixth. O'Neil and Olivia LaPorta are ninth and 10^th with 0.88 and 0.86 blocks per set, respectively.
 
Preseason Poll
Fordham has been selected to repeat its finishes of the past two years and end this upcoming season seventh it was announced in the Atlantic 10's preseason poll voted on by the league's head coaches. The Rams garnered 36 votes. Read more about it.
 
Up Next
Following this weekend, it's only Atlantic 10 play from here on out. The Rams begin conference season with three straight home matches, first welcoming Rhode Island to the Bronx next Saturday at 5 p.m. for that weekend's lone match.