Elise Benjamin Named A-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Week

League Release

Newport News, Va. – Junior Elise Benjamin has been named the Atlantic 10 Co-Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday afternoon. She shares the award with La Salle's Jensen Sharrits. It is the second straight week the Fordham volleyball team has earned the accolade, with junior libero Morgan Williams taking it home last week.
 
"This doesn't come as a surprise to me after she totaled 11 blocks on Saturday," Head coach Ian Choi said, "Her execution against Rhode Island was on point. This is a great achievement for Elise and for our program."
 
The Rams played just one match last week, hosting Rhode Island on Saturday in the conference opener, and walked away victors after rallying with wins in sets four and five. Benjamin anchored a stout Fordham defense that broke the program's five-set record by 1.5 blocks, tallying 17.5 as a group on the day. Benjamin fell just one block shy of Randi Ewing's five-set record with 11 total blocks, one solo.
 
Despite getting a late start to the year, Benjamin is now just five short of Claire O'Neil's team-high 43 blocks and is tied with Olivia LaPorta for the most solo blocks, with four. Her 1.36 blocks per set average over her 28 frames would rank 29^th in the country if she met the minimum requirement of appearing in two-thirds of the team's total sets.
 
Before last week, the last Fordham Defensive Player of the Week representative was Ewing in late 2012. This is the third time in program history the Rams have had at least two different players earn the honor.
 
Benjamin and the Rams are back in action with two more home conference contests this weekend, first hosting Duquesne on Friday night at 7 p.m. before welcoming La Salle to the Rose Hill Gym on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.