Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham volleyball and George Mason went the distance on Friday night in front of a big Rose Hill Gym crowd for Senior weekend. The Rams rallied furiously in the fifth set to take the victory, 20-25, 25-19, 25-13, 22-25, 15-11. With the win, Fordham improves to 12-16 overall and 6-11 in league action.
The Patriots took the opening set, using four straight points late to create separate and finished the set with three straight points after the hosts got within two. Fordham rebounded well in the second, beginning the frame on a 9-3 run, growing the lead to nine, 15-6, and doubling the visitors up, 22-11, before the Patriots rallied to get within five, 24-19, but a
Megan Brzozowski kill out of a timeout quashed the run.
The third set was all Fordham as the Patriots hit -.094 with nine errors, while the Rams racked up 11 kills, three total blocks, and an ace. George Mason controlled much of the fourth but the Rams chipped away. The hosts could only get within one late in the set as the Patriots kept answering with points and finished with three sets of four to force the fifth and final frame. Mason kept that momentum going with a 6-1 run to start the fifth, forcing a Fordham timeout. Following a visitor ace,
Aria De La Rosa and
Audrey Brown started a 5-0 run with a block, that duo each notching a kill during the stretch. After a few back-and-forth points, two De La Rosa kills and a
Whitley Moody kill gave Fordham the lead, 10-9, that was quickly answered by the Patriots. On the next series,
Zoe Talabong posted the go-ahead kill and the Rams finished the match with four points out of five to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
De La Rosa was fantastic, finishing one kill shy of her career-high with 17, hitting .394, with six blocks, two solo. Moody also had 17 kills to go with 17 digs, plus two aces, while Brown added 14 kills and four blocks.
Chloe Pejouan led at the net with seven blocks, two solo, while
Mallory Lipski tallied 23 digs. Brzozowski finished with 45 assists and seven digs, while Talabong finished with 13 digs to go with six kills.
The two schools will meet once more in tomorrow's regular season finale starting at 2 p.m. Fans attending should arrive early for the Senior Day ceremony beginning at 1:45 p.m.
