Radford, Va. – The Fordham volleyball team suffered a four-set defeat at Radford to finish up this weekend's tournament, 25-27, 25-21, 25-23, 28-26. With the loss, the Rams fall to 4-2 on the season.
The Rams committed a season-high 27 errors in attack, hitting .132 as a team, although the defense racked up 11.0 total blocks, second-most through their first six contests.
The Highlanders took an early 6-1 lead in the first frame only to see the visitors answer with five straight points of their own. The two schools traded points until Fordham took a 18-15 lead with four straight points, eventually building it up to set point at 24-21. Radford rallied, however, to tie the set up at 24. After a point each way, an attack error and a block by
Aria De La Rosa and
Kaitlin Morley handed the Rams set number one. Set two was a back-and-forth affair the entire way until Radford scored three of the final four points to even the match up.
Fordham started the third hot, leading 10-4, but the hosts slowly chipped away to take the lead that they never let go of although the Rams got with two, 22-20, late with three straight points. The final frame saw some controversy as a late call reversal on what would have been the set-winner for Fordham turned into a tie and saw Radford score twice to win the match. The two schools were neck and neck until the Rams ripped off four straight points thanks to a Morley kill and three straight attack errors by the Highlanders, leading, 16-12, resulting in a timeout by the hosts. Radford tied the set up, 19-19, and again, 23-23, after the Rams had opened up a three-point lead, but Fordham held two set points right after coming on a kill from
Claire O'Neil, 25-24, and a
Megan Brzozowski kill, 26-25. The next play saw an attack by Stephanie Neast go long and the Rams were initially given the point but, after review, it was deemed the ball had touched a Fordham player at the net. Radford scored twice after to take the match.
Morley led the way on offense with 13 kills and 10 digs, plus five blocks, followed by seven kills apiece from De La Rosa and Fairchild. Brzozowski and
Makaela Tanaka combined for 40 assists, the former tallying 27 of those and adding seven digs and three kills.
Morgan Williams chipped in a match-high 23 digs, while
McKenna Lahr notched 16. De La Rosa also finished with five blocks, with four, three, and two, respectively, coming from
Chloe Pejouan,
Joey Landeros, and O'Neil.
The Rams are back in action next Friday and Saturday at the Dartmouth Invitational. Fordham will play Hartford on Friday, September 13, at 4 p.m. and then take on both Hofstra (10:30 a.m.) and Dartmouth (6:30 p.m.) on Saturday.
