Box Score Atlanta, Ga. – The Fordham volleyball team kicked off its campaign with a five-set win against Lamar in the opening match of the Georgia State Invitational. The Rams were victorious 30-32, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 15-9, falling behind twice in the match to rally for their first win of the year. The team's 16.0 total blocks were tied for the fourth-most in any match in program history.
"This was a hard-fought win that tested our attitudinal resilience and ability to stick with the game plan," Head coach
Ian Choi said, "It showed in the fifth set when we started to pull away."
The first frame set the tone for the match, an exciting back-and-forth affair from the first serve. Fordham's first point of the season came on an
Elise Benjamin solo block, also offering a prelude of things to come on the day, and the team took its first lead of the year, 7-6, on an
Aria De La Rosa kill. Fordham led for the majority of the set, by as much as six, 21-15, but Lamar rallied and scored nine of the next 12 points to tie things up at 24-all. The Rams held three set points on three
Olivia Fairchild kills but the Cardinals continued to answer and eventually took the first set, 32-30.
The Rams started the second set hot, rattling off four straight points, taking an eventual 7-1 lead, and coasting to a 25-18 set win. The Cardinals struggled on offense, committing 12 errors, while Fordham made just two on 26 attacks. A tight third set, with six lead changes and 12 ties, went Lamar's way, 25-23, to put Fordham down a set once again but the Rams rallied while relinquishing the lead just once over the final two sets.
Fordham notched 60 kills at a .248 clip with 16.0 total blocks, two solo, and 78 digs. The blocks are the second-most over the past eight years, behind last year's 17.5 mark against Rhode Island (9/22/18), which set a new benchmark for five-set matches in school history. De La Rosa, making the start as a freshman, led the squad with eight block assists. Benjamin added seven, one solo, while
McKenna Lahr and
Kaitlin Morley each tallied six.
Lahr led the way with a match-high 20 kills on 50 attacks (.280), adding nine digs. Joining her in double figures were Fairchild (13) and Morley (10). The latter added 14 digs for her first double-double of the season, while the former chipped in nine digs.
Makaela Tanaka notched 32 assists and shared setting duties with freshman
Megan Brzozowski, who recorded 15 over four sets to go with eight digs.
Morgan Williams, playing every set at libero, led the way among all players with 23 digs, while also enjoying two aces out of the team's seven total.
Fordham will play two tomorrow to wrap up the weekend, first facing Western Carolina at 10 a.m. and then Georgia State at 7 p.m.
