Las Vegas, Nev. – The Fordham volleyball team began this weekend's Rebel Classic with a doubleheader split on Friday, falling to the hosts, UNLV, in four sets and defeating Eastern Kentucky in five. With the day's results, the Rams move to 3-5 on the young season. After the first day, the Rams and Colonels are tied for second with equal 1-1 records, behind the Rebels' 2-0 showing.
"It's so amazing to see the team continue to grow and evolve with each unique challenge presented to them every weekend," Head coach
Ian Choi said, "I'm especially impressed with the inventiveness of their colloquialisms, setting the stage for a robust team culture predicated on trust and unconditional support. The 'Joey' chants from our bench instantly put a smile on my face during an inherently stressful situation. Every match will be a battle but it's definitely worth experiencing with this team."
The Rebels came out in front of their home crowd with a 12-5 lead to start the match. Choi called for a timeout which galvanized his team, using two separate 5-0 runs to get within one point twice, at 13-12 and 18-17. After a UNLV kill,
McKenna Lahr solo stuffed Thea Sweder to again get within one, 19-18, but the Rebels struck quickly with six unanswered points to take the first set.
Fordham, unfazed, stormed back with a 25-16 second-set response, hitting .414 as a squad with 14 kills and just two attack errors. Five different Rams tallied at least two kills in the frame, with
Kaitlin Morley's five leading the way. However, despite a solid 11 kills and just three errors in set three, the Rebels answered with 16 kills at a .464 clip to take the third frame, 25-15, and kept their momentum up with a 25-13 fourth-set victory.
Morley and
Joey Landeros each notched double-digit kills, with 11 and 10, respectively, at clips of .280 and .391. Morley tossed up three aces, as well, tied for the team-high with Lahr, who provided six kills, five digs, and three blocks of her own.
Morgan Williams added 14 digs and
Sophia Plett set the offense up with 19 assists. Junior
Elise Benjamin made her season debut and chipped in three kills and four blocks, with her first touch of the campaign being a solo block.
Benjamin got the start in match two against Eastern Kentucky and provided Fordham's first point with a kill. The two schools traded sets, the Rams taking set one, 25-17, all the way until a 15-12 fifth set finale. The two teams struggled in the sets they lost, with Fordham dominating the opening frame with 17 kills and a .438 team hit percentage compared to EKU's .086 mark. However, the Colonels rebounded with 12 kills and a .385 clip while the Rams committed 10 attack errors in set two, a mark they replicated in the fourth set despite notching 17 kills. Eastern Kentucky tallied just 12 kills in that set but committed just two errors to force the final set with a 25-22 win.
Fordham took advantage of Eastern Kentucky's sloppy offense in the fifth set, the Colonels putting up four kills compared to six errors (-.083) while the Rams tallied nine and seven, respectively, to walk away winners of their second road contest and third overall.
The trio of Lahr, Landeros, and Morley all notched at least 13 kills and eight digs, with Morley putting up her fifth double-double of the season. Recording her first career double-double was
Makaela Tanaka, who assisted on 54 points and added 12 digs to go with a season-high five blocks and four kills. The 54 assists were the most by a freshman since Sara Konkel had 55 against CCSU in September 2010. Williams added 14 more digs, while senior
Breanna Jones chipped in 10. Six different players had at least eight digs. Seven different players notched at least one block assist, with freshman
Claire O'Neil leading the way with nine. Landeros tallied a match-high three aces.
Fordham enjoyed season-highs across the board with 64 kills, 62 assists, 11.0 blocks, and nine aces, but also a season-high 36 attack errors.
The Rams wrap up the Rebel Challenge against Cal State Fullerton tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET.
