Pittsburgh, Pa. – Fordham volleyball rebounded in a big way on Saturday, avenging Friday's loss at Duquesne with a sweep in the regular season road finale, 25-22, 27-25, 25-15. With the win, the Rams improve to 10-14 overall and 4-9 in league action.
The Rams overturned an early deficit, going on a 6-1 run to lead, 8-6, and controlling serve for much of the opening frame until the Dukes knotted things up, 18-18. The tie was brief, though, as
Whitley Moody spiked home a point and the visitors rattled off four straight points, two on host errors, prompting two separate Duquesne timeouts. The Dukes came within one, 22-21 but it was Moody again with a timely kill, then a
Chloe Pejouan solo block, and, fittingly, an
Audrey Brown kill, her eighth of the set on nine attacks.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair, although the first half was trading points and the second was alternating small runs. Fordham led, 20-18, heading into a Dukes break, which they came out of with three straight points to retake the lead. Pejouan and Moody sandwiched kills around an Elizabeth Osborn point before a kill and block put Duquesne a point away from tying the match up. However,
Aria De La Rosa came through with a kill and then she and
Megan Brzozowski blocked Morgan Kelly's effort at the net to extend the frame. Moody's serve found the net out of a second Duquesne timeout but three straight points, all kills, one by De La Rosa and two back-to-back from
Zoe Talabong, saw the visitors go 2-up.
That momentum carried into the third and after trading points, the Rams took the lead for good, 10-9, on a Talabong ace. Fordham closed out the match on an eventual 17-6 run.
Brown led the offense with 19 kills for a second straight day, hitting at a .469 clip (19-4-32), with Moody adding 14 and falling one dig shy of a double-double. Pejouan finished with six blocks, two solo, as she continues her climb up the all-time program ranks. Brzozowski finished with 37 assists and 14 digs, while
Mallory Lipski tallied 13 digs, though it was Talabong to lead the back line with 15 digs on the day. Five different Rams notched an ace, as well.
Fordham's time away from the Bronx has come to an end for the remainder of the regular season. The Rams return home to host Rhode Island this Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. to conclude that home and home series before welcoming Saint Louis for two matches, the team right above them in the standings for the last postseason spot.
