Volleyball Dominates Rhode Island on Senior Night

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Bronx, N.Y. – In front of a big crowd of friends and family on Senior Night, the Fordham volleyball team romped to a three-set sweep of visiting Rhode Island in a critical battle to make the 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship. The Rams now have one foot in the door after defeating their rival Rams, 25-11, 25-20, 25-20. With the win, Fordham improves to 8-18 overall and 5-10 in Atlantic 10 play, while Rhody falls to 12-19 and 4-11, respectively.
 
Fordham was in control for nearly the entire match, committing just 10 errors in attack against 41 kills, hitting .326, the fourth-best mark this year, while compiling 11 blocks, the ninth match with 10 or more.
 
Fittingly, senior Bella Ureña led the offense with 14 kills, hitting .370, her third-most efficient match this season, with 11 digs, two blocks, and an ace. Whitley Moody added 12 kills, Aria De La Rosa notched eight, and Claire O'Neil had five. For De La Rosa, it was also her third-most efficient match of the year, hitting .533 with no errors. Megan Brzozowski assisted 36 points, added nine digs, two blocks, and two aces, the latter number that was also matched by Moody.
 
Mallory Lipski led the way with 12 digs, adding a pair of assists and an ace, with Ryan Naumann contributing eight digs and an ace, as well. Chloe Pejouan posted a team-high six blocks, followed by O'Neil's five, with four others having between two and four. Pejouan is now averaging 1.67 blocks per set over 45 frames, a number that would be near the top of Division I if she met the required number of sets played.
 
Fordham trailed once in the opening set, the opening point, eventually opening up a 10-5 lead to prompt a Rhody timeout. It was Moody who led into the break with a kill and the sophomore notched another coming out of it. The Rams eventually led by double-digits, 19-9, and closed the frame out with a 6-1 run, the only point against coming on a service error.
 
Rhode Island led early in set two before a 5-1 run make it 12-10 for the hosts. Rhody would keep it close and be within one, 21-20, late, but Fordham closed the second set with four unanswered points in emphatic fashion – an unassisted Pejouan kill, two blocks involving O'Neil, one with Moody and one with Pejouan, and a Moody kill. The two schools traded points in set three, with the visitors leading slightly for most of it. At 16-15, a Jamie Smith serve error gave Ureña and Fordham serve and her ace put her team on top for good. That started a 9-4 run to end the match.
 
Fordham needs to win one set, win or lose, to seal a second straight berth in the conference tournament. The two teams will meet again up at Rhode Island on Sunday at 3 p.m.