Volleyball Sends Off Seniors with Four-Set Win on Saturday

Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham volleyball finished the regular season in style with a four-set victory over George Mason on Saturday afternoon in front of family, friends, and alums, 25-13, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20. With the win, their fourth in the last six to end the year, the Rams finish the season with a 13-16 overall record and 7-11 mark in league play, finishing seventh in the standings.
 
"I'm eternally grateful that my first recruited class had such a positive and lasting impact on our program." Head coach Ian Choi said, "We fell short of our goal of reaching A10s, but there's still a lot to appreciate. I'm going to miss these athletes and it's going to be fun to see how their lives progress post-student-athlete."
 
Fordham ambushed the Patriots from the get-go, racking up 16 kills at a .371 clip, jumping out to a 10-3 lead and eventually a 20-9 advantage, coasting to the set win with a 5-4 finish. The Rams were in control again in the second, leading, 7-2, early and using four straight points to double Mason up, 14-7. The visitors went on a run to cut it to three, 16-13, forcing Fordham into a timeout, but out of the break, the set became more even. Facing a 22-20 lead and Mason serve, a Whitley Moody kill gave her the serve and a block by Audrey Brown and Chloe Pejouan followed. Moments later, the Rams made it 2-0 thanks to a George Mason service error.
 
The third set began with a series of runs, each team putting together one of three or more until the Patriots led, 13-11. Zoe Talabong netted a kill to stop the run but Mason picked it right back up with three more. The closest Fordham would get was four the rest of the way as the visitors extended the match. The Rams started the fourth brightly with a 5-2 run, capped by an Aneliesa Cartledge ace, and maintained control towards a 16-9 lead into a George Mason timeout. The Patriots rallied from that point, clawing away and eventually getting within two, 22-20, late. That run was snapped by a thunderous block from Brown and Pejouan that started a 4-0 run to seal the match with Moody capping the contest with a shoestring ace over the net.
 
Moody led with 12 kills followed closely by Brown and Talabong with nine each and the senior middle duo of Aria De La Rosa and Pejouan with eight each, the latter hitting a team-high .286 and leading the defense with eight blocks, one solo. Megan Brzozowski tossed up a 37-assist, 12-dig, five-block double-double in her final contest, while Mallory Lipski added 15 digs, four assists, and three aces, the latter matched by Moody. All told the Rams notched 10 aces on the day and 11 blocks.
 
Five seniors were honored pre- and post-match: Megan Brzozowski, Aneliesa Cartledge, Aria De La Rosa, Mallory Lipski, and Chloe Pejouan. All integral parts of the program for the past four seasons. Cartledge has put up solid serving numbers the past two seasons while the other four find themselves littered among the program record books, which you can see here.