Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team sent its five seniors out with a bang on Saturday evening, taking down Davidson in a thrilling five-set match, 25-16, 13-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-13, in front of a big home crowd of fans, friends, and families. With the win, the Rams improve to 10-14 overall and 3-9 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Wildcats fall to 10-15 and 5-7, respectively.
"No other way to win on Senior Night with our A-10 season on the line than a 15-13 five-set win," Head coach
Ian Choi said, "The team did an amazing job placing their efforts on the right focus and staying centered on the gameplan. The unconditional support and respect for the seniors was on display tonight and it goes to show you the family-oriented culture this team is embracing."
The Wildcats clawed their way back to force a fifth set but the Rams overturned a deficit in the final frame to create an exciting finish to play at the Rose Hill Gym this season. The offense hit .232, second-highest over the past six weeks, while the defense reached double-digit blocks.
Fordham coasted to a 25-16 first-set win by hitting .226 and taking advantage of Wildcat miscues, the visitors tallying nine in the stanza and hitting in negatives. It was night and day in set two for Davidson as they hit .459 with 18 kills to even the match up.
The Rams never trailed in the third set although the Wildcats evened things up several times. The hosts ripped off six unanswered points to take a seven-point lead, 23-16, and, although the Wildcats took four of the next five points, a Lauryn Albold service error snapped the run. Fordham took an early, 7-4, lead after five straight points, including an emphatic block from
Elise Benjamin and
Olivia Fairchild and kills by each plus one from
McKenna Lahr, forcing a Davidson timeout. The Rams continued to lead for much of the set although the Wildcats kept pace. Leading, 21-18, late in the match, Fordham saw the Wildcats cobble together three straight points to tie the set up for the first time as Coach Choi called a timeout.
Aria De La Rosa produced a kill out of the break and, after a Davidson point from Hattie Rodriguez, De La Rosa made it two straight. However, that would be it for the Rams as the Wildcats snatched the set with two kills and an ace, forcing the decisive fifth.
Despite going down by four early, 6-2, thanks to a trio of errors in attack, the Rams never lost their composure. The Wildcats kept Fordham at bay and even took a five-point lead, 12-7, forcing Choi to burn his second timeout. That break changed everything for the Rams as they ripped off an 8-1 run to take the match.
Kaitlin Morley smashed home a kill followed by a pair of Lahr kills and an attack error from Anela Davis, putting the hosts within two, 12-10, and forcing Davidson into a timeout. Lahr drove home another kill to get within one, Hattie Rodriguez responded for the visitors, before Fordham closed out with four straight points as the crowd went crazy. A Benjamin solo block put Fordham up for good, 14-13, and a Rodriguez error closed out the match.
Lahr led the way on offense with 15 kills, hitting .239 and adding 11 digs and a pair of aces. De La Rosa, who had previously had three 10-kill matches, tallied a season-high 13 kills at a .379 clip, adding four blocks, two solo. Morley chipped in 11 kills and three digs, while Benjamin, Fairchild, and
Joey Landeros combined for 16 kills. Benjamin led the way with five blocks, one solo, while Fairchild added three total and a solo of her own.
Morgan Williams enjoyed her eighth 30-dig effort of the year, piling up 37 digs, fourth-most in a single match in school history and two shy of her own record set earlier this year. She added five assists.
Megan Brzozowski, with 27, and
Makaela Tanaka, with 18, split setting duties, the latter adding two aces and the former adding seven digs.
Mallory Lipski contributed a match-high three aces, seven digs, and her first career kill.
Fordham heads into a critical weekend on the road to wrap up the regular season, playing at George Washington on Friday night at 7 p.m. and George Mason on Saturday at 5 p.m. Wins in both, and other factors, could mean a postseason berth for the Rams.
