Fairfax, Va. – The Fordham volleyball team continued its excellent start to Atlantic 10 play with Sunday's four-set win at George Mason, 25-16, 14-25, 25-22, 25-14, the first time since 2010 that the team has begun league action with two wins. With the victory, the Rams improve to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in-conference.
"I'm proud of the team for pushing through the fatigue this entire week." Head coach
Ian Choi said, "Playing catch-up for six straight days after our pause was definitely felt today. I'm especially proud of our freshmen, Whitley and Izzy. They were the anchors of our offense this weekend. The future looks bright for Fordham volleyball."
A Marlanna Bozicevich service error turned out to be the go-ahead point in the opening set, breaking an 11-11 tie. The Rams took advantage of numerous Patriot errors in the frame extending their lead to seven, 20-13, following a
Whitley Moody kill but also four attack errors, a bad set, and another service miss.
Megan Brzozowski and
Aria De La Rosa had a hand in all three of the final points, the former recording a kill first then joining her classmate for a block and then assisting on the latter's set-ending kill.
It was Fordham's turn for sloppy play in the second set, committing 10 errors in attack compared to eight kills, while the Patriots hit .303 to easily take the frame, 25-14, including a 9-0 run. The third set was much closer but the Rams held the advantage for the majority of it, starting with an
Isabel Fichtel kill to break an 8-8 deadlock and starting a 5-0 run. Fordham's final six points all came on kills with five coming from Fichtel and Moody.
The Rams never trailed in the final frame and were tied on just two occasions. A block by Fichtel and
McKenna Lahr proved to be the difference. The pair teamed up for another on the very next point and then Fichtel notched a kill to force the hosts into a timeout. The Patriots would get within four, 17-13, but the Rams turned on the jets to finish the match with an 8-1 run.
Moody led the way again with 17 kills on 46 attacks (.261), adding 15 digs, two blocks, and an ace. Fichtel and Lahr each finished with nine kills, the former chipping in six blocks, one solo, and the latter adding seven digs, three blocks, and an ace. Brzozowski tossed up 36 assists with 14 digs, plus four blocks and an ace, while
Mallory Lipski led the way with 19 digs.
Chloe Pejouan made her season debut off the bench with three kills and three blocks, two solo, while
Aneliesa Cartledge tallied a pair of aces.
The Rams return to the Bronx for three Atlantic 10 contests with La Salle on tap first on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.
