Radford, Va. – The Fordham volleyball team picked up two more victories on Friday, while dropping just one set, to begin the Radford Tournament. The Rams defeated Norfolk State in straight sets before dropping Rider in four. The results improve Fordham to 4-1 on the season.
"Solid team effort today resulting in a couple of good wins," Head coach
Ian Choi said, "This season is about balancing our attention with both the process and the competition. The results are not only showing on the scoreboard but the methods to get there. We're still a bit in 'laboratory mode' in our nonconference matches and our athletes are starting to show a lot of diversity in their execution."
Fordham dominated its match against Norfolk State, with the Spartans never going above 16 points in any set. The Rams were sizzling on offense all match long but especially in the first set, totaling 16 kills with no errors on 28 attempts (.571), then matching that kill total with just one error in the second, and eventually settling in at .471 for the match, less than .02 below the three-set record set by last year's team.
McKenna Lahr led the way with a match-high 12 kills, adding five digs, an ace, and an assist, followed by
Olivia Fairchild, who notched 10 kills; neither player committed an error in attack on 37 combined attempts.
Megan Brzozowski assisted on 18 points, while both
Makaela Tanaka and
Morgan Williams each finished with nine, the latter setting a new career-best. Williams also contributed a match-high 15 digs.
Kaitlin Morley added nine kills, while
Bella Ureña tallied seven kills and eight digs off the bench.
Fordham coasted against Rider in three of its four sets, hitting over .300 in all but the third frame, where the Broncs were able to win the set with the Rams committing nine errors overall. Lahr again led all players with 15 kills, hitting .325, with 11 digs, while both Fairchild and Morley enjoyed 14 kills apiece. Brzozowski tallied her second double-double of the year with 26 assists and 12 digs, while Tanaka recorded her first of the year with 13 and 11, respectively. The team racked up 20 block assists in the match, led by
Aria De La Rosa's five, while both Fairchild and
Chloe Pejouan had four each. Eight players had at least one.
The Rams will look to make it a clean sweep of the weekend against Radford tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
