Bronx, N.Y. – Redshirt junior
Olivia Fairchild recorded her 1,000
th career kill on Friday evening but the Fordham volleyball team fell in three sets to Dayton in the Rams' home opener inside the newly renovated Rose Hill Gym. With the result, Fordham moves to 7-11 overall and 0-6 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Flyers improve to 13-6 and 6-0, respectively.
"We did a good job coming out of the gate strong, but give credit to Dayton, they stepped up the offensive pace," Head coach
Ian Choi said, "However, the players did a good job staying aggressive throughout the match. I was happy to see Liv get her 1,000
th kill. It's been a long time coming and she deserves it."
In front a big home crowd on hand, Fairchild became the 11
th Ram to reach the milestone with her first kill in the third set and seventh overall. She finished the night sharing the team lead with seven kills, three blocks, and a dig. Entering the season with 827 career kills after taking a medical redshirt last year, the program kills-per-set leader now sits exactly at 1,000 kills through 74 matches and 280 sets.
Fordham started out strongly, exchanging blows with the Flyers and leading for much of the first set until Dayton put together a string of three kills to take the lead for good, 16-15. The visitors would pull away despite not leading by more than four until the final point. The Flyers took an early lead in sets two and three and cruised to an overall victory, hitting .340 for the match.
Joining Fairchild with seven kills was freshman
Aria De La Rosa, who hit a team-best .313 and added three blocks, one solo, and a dig.
McKenna Lahr and
Kaitlin Morley each chipped in four kills, the latter adding seven digs, as did
Megan Brzozowski, who racked up 21` assists and an ace.
Morgan Williams notched 13 digs, moving within 14 digs of passing Stephanie Frost ('07) for most in program history.
Williams will look to accomplish the feat when the Rams host Saint Louis on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. There will be no ESPN+ broadcast but a link to live stats can be found on the schedule page.
