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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team (7-5) begins Atlantic 10 play this Saturday afternoon at Rhode Island (5-7), their lone match of the weekend, slated to begin at 4 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams played at Manhattan, Columbia, and LIU last week over three straight days, defeating the Jaspers in the annual Battle of the Bronx, but falling in Manhattan and Brooklyn afterwards. In match one, the Rams rallied after falling down two sets by outscoring the hosts by a combined 65-41 score over the last three frames. After co-captain Kaitlin Morley went down with an injury, several Rams stepped up in her absence – Olivia Fairchild netted a match-high 15 kills at a .414 clip, McKenna Lahr recorded a career-high 24 digs to go with 11 kills, four aces, and three blocks, and both sophomore Bella Ureña and freshman Aria De La Rosa set new personal-bests with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Fordham also set a season-high with 10 aces on the night. At Columbia, the Rams suffered a tough 30-28 loss in the second set to again be two sets down and ultimately fell despite a five-point win in the third. Lahr kept up her all-around success with 13 kills, 15 digs, three aces, and three blocks, while Fairchild chipped in 11 kills at a team-high .290 percentage. Ureña enjoyed her first career double-double, as well, with 11 kills and digs, as well. At LIU, freshman Chloe Pejouan equaled Marija Markovic's school record with 13 blocks and broke the five-set record previously held by Randi Ewing ('12). Megan Brzozowski also set a new season-high with 43 assists and 16 digs.  
 
Series History
Rhode Island – Rhody holds a 32-9 all-time advantage in the series, dating back to 1995. Aside from one neutral match that Fordham won, home and away records are an identical 4-16. Fordham last won in five sets last year at home before falling in straight sets in the road finale. In the former, both Kaitlin Morley and McKenna Lahr notched double-doubles, while Elise Benjamin fell one block shy of the single-match five-set record.
 
Williams Among Nation's Digs Leaders
Senior captain and libero Morgan Williams has racked up 287 digs already this season through 12 matches, good for an average of 5.86 per set. The former stat ranks fourth in all of Division I, while the latter sits fifth. The team, as a whole, have averaged 19.28 digs per set, which ranks second in the country, while their 906 total digs sits eighth.
 
Williams has now earned her second and third career pieces of Atlantic 10 hardware with two record-setting performances this season. She initially broke the four-set mark for digs with 33 at Georgia State during opening weekend but two weeks ago her 42 digs in four frames at Dartmouth were the most ever in program history, in any match. The team also combined for 103 digs, a new four-set record, as well. Williams was named Defensive Player of the Week last Monday.
 
Williams surpassed Tasha Johnston ('06) in career digs with her 1,474^th last weekend and is now second all-time at Fordham with 1,508. Stephanie Frost ('07) holds the record with 1,655.
 
Pejouan Matches Blocks Record
At LIU last Friday night, freshman Chloe Pejouan made the start and tallied 13 blocks, tying Marija Markovic's single-match record set against Manhattan in 2006. She also surpassed Randi Ewing's five-set record of 12 from 2012.
 
Fairchild Approaching 1,000 Kills
The redshirt junior entered this season with 827 career kills after sitting out last year due to injury. This year, Fairchild has 126 kills and is now up to 953 for her career and would be the 11th Ram to reach the milestone. Fairchild is already the program's leader with 3.80 kills per set and is 10th with a .243 hit percentage. She is also seventh all-time with 125 career aces, 19 away from joining the top-five. 

Class of 2023
The Rams welcome five new faces to the program with freshmen Megan Brzozowski, Mallory Lipski, Aria De La Rosa, Chloe Pejouan, and Aneliesa Cartledge. Read more about the rookies and their high school careers at the links.
 
Preseason Poll
The Rams, who finished ninth last year in the Atlantic 10, have been predicted to repeat that by the league's head coaches in the annual preseason poll. Read more here.
 
Up Next
The Rams remain on the road for matches at Saint Louis (10/4 – 8 p.m.) and Dayton (10/6 – 12 p.m.) next weekend.