Highlights
Bronx, N.Y. – The visiting La Salle Explorers picked up its first win at the Rose Hill Gym in 20 tries dating back to the late 1980s with a four-set win over the Fordham volleyball team on Sunday afternoon. After winning their conference opener last Saturday, Fordham has dropped two home match-ups this weekend to fall to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in Atlantic 10 action, while La Salle improves to 10-7 and 3-1, respectively.
Despite a combined 45 kills from
Kaitlin Morley,
McKenna Lahr, and
Olivia LaPorta, the Rams fell in part due to miscues in attack and on serve, finishing with 18 and 13, respectively, plus a balanced two-way performance from La Salle, led by Devin Corah, who sits second in the A-10 in kills and had 15 today, plus Madison Kuch and Elizabeth Osborn, who each notched 13 kills.
What started as a back-and-forth first set went to La Salle, 25-22, after the visitors strung together a couple of runs to take a command lead. The Explorers withstood a late charge from the hosts to hold on.
Morley was on fire to start the match, finished that opening frame with seven kills and 12 digs. The Explorers were in command in set two throughout, winning, 25-18. The Rams fought back with an impressive 25-16 third frame, hitting .310 as a team. The Rams upped that number to .412 in the fourth set with zero attack errors but La Salle was equally impressive, with 18 kills and a .390 clip.
Morley enjoyed the second 20-kill match of her career and in her last three matches, adding 15 digs and an ace. Lahr chipped in 14 kills and 12 digs, plus two blocks, and LaPorta notched her first double-digit kill performance of the season, finishing with 10 at a .500 clip. She tallied a match-high four blocks and the team as a whole had just 4.0 total blocks after three straight matches with at least 13.0.
Elise Benjamin started the match but left after the first set due to an illness.
Morgan Williams tallied 21 digs and setting duties were split between
Sophia Plett (28) off the bench and
Makaela Tanaka (16). Plett also added two aces.
Fordham now takes to the road for two straight weekends and four straight road contests, starting with George Mason and George Washington on back-to-back nights with 7 p.m. start times. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
