Williams Breaks Career Digs Record in Loss to Saint Louis

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Bronx, N.Y. – Senior libero Morgan Williams became the Fordham volleyball program's all-time career leader in digs on Saturday afternoon, finishing the Rams' loss to Saint Louis with 25 digs and 1,667 for her career, surpassing Stephanie Frost ('07) for the program lead. On the day, Fordham fell to the Billikens in four frames, falling to 7-12 overall and 0-7 in Atlantic 10 action.
 
Saint Louis started the contest off with a bang, with an ace from Kennedy Cordia, but it was the Rams to take the first set in the end. The Billikens led by as much as six, 19-13, but the Rams made a big run to steal the set. Elise Benjamin kicked off the 12-4 stretch with a kill and the Rams tied things up, 22-all, with kills by Aria De La Rosa and McKenna Lahr and a bad set on Cordia. A Lahr ace and another Cordia error gave the hosts set point and, after a block, Lahr fired another kill, her fifth, to cap the frame.
 
The Billikens responded with wins in the second and third sets. Fordham made another late charge in the fourth, getting within three points several times late.  A pair of Megan Brzozowski aces made it 21-18, forcing a Saint Louis timeout, and Olivia Fairchild notched a kill and ace around an Elise Benjamin kill, making it, 24-22, but Maya Taylor stopped the rally with a kill.
 
Fairchild led the way offensive with nine kills, hitting .200, adding four blocks, an ace, and a block, while Lahr added eight to go with 11 digs, three aces, and two blocks. The trio of Benjamin, De La Rosa, and Morley each enjoyed six kills apiece. Benjamin led the way on the defensive side with six blocks, while Morley smashed her career-high with 31 digs, 11 more than her previous best mark.
 
Brzozowski assisted on 30 points, adding five digs, two blocks, and matching her season-high with three aces. For the first time in a long time, Williams did not finish the match with the most digs, tallying 25 on the night. The team's 10 aces matched its season-high from its win at Manhattan. It was also the defense's first match with double-digit blocks since it last played Saint Louis 15 days ago.
 
Williams is already the career digs-per-set leader, with 4.29, while her 5.87 per-set mark this year will shatter last year's 4.28. With her last kill on Saturday, too, she surpassed last year's total of 445 digs on the year, up to third in a single season, just 18 behind Jenn Shea (1994) and 35 behind Stephanie Frost (2006) for the single-season record.
 
The Rams are in action just once next weekend when they host Rhode Island on Saturday, October 26, at 7 p.m.