Stony Brook, N.Y. – Fordham volleyball suffered five-set defeat on Sunday at Stony Brook, 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 12-15. With the result, the Rams complete opening weekend with a record of 1-1.
"Happy to see our freshmen get their footing this weekend." Head coach
Ian Choi said, beginning his fourth season in charge of the team, "But it was as simple as running out of gas towards the end. We've got a tight-knit and cohesive team this year that I'm exceptionally proud of, and now it's about leveraging that to develop a relentlessly competitive squad. The seniors have an important role in our success this year and I'm confident that they'll guide our freshmen in the right direction."
The Rams came out of the gate on fire, hitting .500 for the opening set, and maintained their good form by hitting .300 with 17 kills in set two, weathering a lengthy run where the Seawolves erased an eight-point deficit. The third and fourth frames saw the visitors leading by several points at the halfway point only for the hosts to wrest control away down the stretch. The decisive fifth was close throughout until Stony Brook won five of the final eight points to steal the victory.
Whitley Moody made it back-to-back 20-kill efforts to begin her junior season, tallying 21 on 55 attacks, hitting .218, while
Audrey Brown continued her dazzling open weekend with 18 kills and hitting .267. The freshman added 10 digs and eight blocks to fall just short of a triple-double. Moody added 16 digs and the duo were two of three double-doubles on the day.
Megan Brzozowski, with 50 assists and 13 digs, plus two aces, had the other. It was her third career 50-assist match and during the match she became just the eighth Ram to reach 2,000 career digs, now up to 2,032 over three-plus years.
Mallory Lipski led the defense with 22 digs, missing out on a double-double by two assists, as did
Zoe Talabong, who paired eight kills with 10 digs, plus three blocks.
Aria De La Rosa contributed six kills, six blocks, one solo, and three digs, while
Chloe Pejouan chipped in five kills and seven blocks.
Fordham next plays at St. Francis Brooklyn on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before hosting the 19
th Rose Hill Classic next weekend on Friday and Saturday.
