Fullerton, Calif. – The Fordham volleyball team won their first sets of the season but ultimately fell on day two of the Titan Classic to UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton. With the results, the Rams return to the East Coast with a 0-3 record.
"Couple of competitive, back-and-forth sets in each match before the fatigue caught up to us." Head coach
Ian Choi said, "The gameplan doesn't change, however. Nonconference matches are opportunities to learn and grow and the competition at this tournament was ideal to prepare us for our conference opponents. I'm proud of how our freshmen stepped up to the D1 game as there's always a learning curve. These results will only add fuel to the fire."
The Rams rebounded from dropping the opening sets of their Saturday matinee against Riverside by rolling to a 25-12 third-set win. Neck-and-neck with the Highlanders in the fourth, the Highlanders pulled away in the final moments. The Rams hit .441 in that third set, .355 in the fourth, and .284 overall with an even 50 kills. Senior
Bella Ureña matched her career-best with 13 kills, adding an equal amount of digs, while
Joey Landeros, with 11, and
Whitley Moody, with 10, rounded out the top of the scoring. Landeros was especially efficient in the match, hitting .556 on 18 attacks. Moody also double-doubled with 10 digs.
The weekend finale against the hosts was a war of attrition, an evenly contested affair that saw Fordham control tempo much of the time. The Titans fought back in the opening frame, staving off two straight set points and eventually took it with three straight points to win, 29-27. After a similar second set, Fordham withstood a late charge by the hosts to take the third, 25-22, but Fullerton was able to coast to a 25-13 fourth to wrap the tournament up. Moody racked up 17 kills, hitting .308, while the trio of Landeros,
Chloe Pejouan, and
Aria De La Rosa combined for a further 20 kills. Pejouan was a force at the net, turning away eight total attacks, one solo.
For the weekend, Moody was one of five Rams to appear in all 11 sets and led the attack with 34 kills at an average of 3.09 per set and a .214 hit percentage. Ureña was next in line with 22, Landeros finished with 18, and De La Rosa, hitting .364, had 14 kills.
Megan Brzozowski averaged 6.82 assists per frame, totaling 75, while seven different players had between one and two aces. Junior
Mallory Lipski continued her stellar libero play from last year, averaging an even 4.0 digs per set and 44 total over 11 sets.
At the net, the Rams averaged 1.73 blocks per set to opponent's mark of 1.27, led by Pejouan's 1.43 swats per frame over seven sets. The junior had 10 total blocks, one solo, with Landeros just behind with nine total at an average of 0.90.
Isabel Fichtel made her season debut in the middle match of the weekend and tallied three blocks in four sets.
The Rams return to the East Coast for the Delaware Invitational next weekend, starting with Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday, September 3, at 3 p.m. but also playing the hosts right after at 7 p.m. Fordham will wrap the weekend up with NJIT on Saturday at 2 p.m.
