Volleyball at Radford Tournament this Weekend

Tournament Central
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham volleyball team continues its nonconference tournament schedule with this weekend's Radford Tournament. Fordham will kick the weekend off against Norfolk State (0-2) on Friday morning at 10 a.m. before playing Rider (0-4) at 3 p.m. The Rams will then play the hosts (2-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
Fans can find all relevant links to broadcasts and live stats via the link above.  
 
Last Time Out
The Rams began their season with a 2-1 record at the Georgia State Invitational. Fordham rallied twice from a set down to win in five against Lamar last Friday. The defense came out firing, tallying 16.0 total blocks, the second-most the team has had in the last eight years, only behind last y ear's record-setting 17.5 against Rhode Island (9/22/18). Aria De La Rosa, making her collegiate debut in a start, led the squad with eight, while senior Elise Benjamin notched seven, followed by McKenna Lahr and Kaitlin Morley, with six apiece. Lahr led the way on offense with 20 kills, missing out on a double-double by one dig, while Olivie Fairchild and Morley were in double figures with 13 and 10, respectively. The defense kept things going with 86 digs and nine blocks over four sets against Western Carolina on Saturday morning and 84 and six against Georgia State in the evening.
 
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 at the links.
 
Series Histories
Norfolk State – The two schools have met once, in 2013, with Fordham winning in straight sets on neutral territory.  
 
Rider – Rider leads the all-time series 7-6 since 1990, although Fordham holds a 3-2 record on neutral courts.  After playing just once between 1994 and 2010, the two schools have met five times this decade, most recently in 2017, which Fordham won in four sets at home. Olivia Fairchild and Kaitlin Morley each notched double-doubles as sophomores.
 
Radford – The two schools have never met.
 
Williams Named A-10 Defensive Player of the Week
Senior captain and libero earned her second career piece of league hardware after a record-setting performance at the Georgia State Invitational by being named Defensive Player of the Week. A day after Williams nearly set the program record for three-set digs, the Los Angeles native totaled 66 over her two matches on Saturday, with a school record 33 coming in four sets against the hosts. Those were tied for the second-most in a single match in program history, as well. Williams also ascended to third all-time with 1,307 career digs, passing Maria Rodenberg ('13).
 
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 next weekend's Radford Tournament. Fordham will play Norfolk State (10 a.m.) and Rider (3 p.m.) on Friday, September 6, before playing Radford the next morning at 10:45 a.m.