Las Vegas, Nev. – The Fordham volleyball team wrapped up the Rebel Challenge with a bang on Saturday afternoon, enjoying its best set of the year to begin the match and keeping the momentum up en route to a sweep, the first of the season, over Cal State Fullerton. The Rams finish the weekend with a 2-1 record and improve to 4-5 overall, including the year's first win streak.
"That was a great win," Head coach
Ian Choi said after the match, "The pins are really starting to understand the attitude and mentality of being competitive at this level. I'm especially grateful to see how the upperclassmen have been setting such a positive and inclusive landscape for the freshmen to thrive in. The traveling support from our families and friends has also been nothing short of outstanding."
Fordham was flawless on offense in the opening frame, tossing up 13 kills and committing no errors across 30 attacks, good for a .433 mark. Five different players had at least two kills and five had at least two digs. Through the first 20 points of the second frame, the Rams had just one attack error and led, 12-8, but a timeout by Fullerton breathed some new life into the Titans and they rallied with a 6-2 run to tie the set, 14-14, which prompted a Fordham timeout. Despite two errors during that run, the offense came out of the timeout and committed just one the rest of the way, seeing out a 25-20 victory.
Cal State Fullerton racked up 16 kills in the third set as the two schools traded points. Tied, 18-18,
McKenna Lahr connected on a kill to put the Rams up for good. Although the Titans would rally to get within one of tying the set up, 24-23, with a 3-1 run following a timeout,
Kaitlin Morley smashed home a kill to clinch the match and the sweep.
The Rams recorded a season-high .262 attack percentage with a season-low nine kills. The defense made it two straight matches with double-digit blocks, as well, for the second time this season. Lahr led the way with a match-high 12 kills at a .344 clip, adding five digs, two aces, and a block, while freshman
Claire O'Neil chipped in eight kills, at a .500 clip, with three blocks, two digs, and an ace. Morley added seven kills, nine digs, and four blocks, and
Joey Landeros notched five kills, three digs, and a pair of blocks.
Elise Benjamin, making her second consecutive start, blocked a season-high seven attempts.
Landeros and
Makaela Tanaka were named to the All-Tournament team. The latter recorded 32 assists on Saturday to give her 91 for the weekend, an average of 9.10 per set. Landeros finished the three matches with 28 kills with a .235 hit percentage, second-highest on the squad, with 13 digs, four blocks, and three aces.
The Rams return to action for Wednesday night's annual Battle of the Bronx, hosting Manhattan inside the Rose Hill Gym at 7 p.m. That match will be streamed on the A-10 Digital Network via ESPN+.
