Volleyball Defeats FDU, Niagara to Begin Rose Hill Classic

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Bronx, N.Y. – Day one of the 19^th Rose Hill Classic came and went and Fordham volleyball walked away with a pair of victories, a back-and-forth five-setter against Fairleigh Dickinson, 18-25, 25-10, 15-25, 25-13, 15-9, and a straight sweep of Niagara, 25-19, 25-14, 25-22. With the wins, the Rams improve to 4-1 on the young season.
 
The Knights and Rams traded efficient sets with inefficient sets in attack, although it was the hosts to rally and maintain their composure over the final two frames. Though the Rams hit .262 in the first, the Knights came out swinging, tallying just two errors and hitting .359. It was Fordham's turn in the second to take care of the ball, racking up 13 kills and just one error (.444), while the Knights committed six errors. Fordham posted nine attack errors in the third to give FDU the lead, but hit .281 and then .438 in the final two frames while the Knights had 11 errors combined over the same span. The Rams dominated the second and fourth sets and then controlled the fifth.
 
Reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week Audrey Brown was super-efficient on her 30 attacks, recording just three errors to go with a match-high 17 kills, hitting .467, and chipping in six blocks and three digs. Whitley Moody posted 15 kills and 14 digs, Aria De La Rosa had 11 kills, and both Chloe Pejouan and Zoe Talabong had nine kills apiece. Pejouan led the defense with eight blocks, one solo, while Mallory Lipski led the back line with 16 digs, and Megan Brzozowski totaled 49 assists and 12 digs. The junior setter also matched her career-high with four aces, as did both Aneliesa Cartledge, who had three all on the same serve, and Ryan Naumann.
 
Against the Purple Eagles, who were just coming off a four-set win over Penn, the Rams continued their hyper-efficient ways, with 29 kills and four errors combined over the opening two frames before battling throughout the third.
 
Moody duplicated her 15-kill effort, hitting .394, while Brown added 11 more kills off the bench, hitting .500, and De La Rosa chipped in six more kills at a .455 clip with a block and an ace. Making their first career starts in the match were co-captain Lauren Arzuaga, who notched three kills and two blocks, and freshman setter Mackenzie Colvin, who posted 21 assists, four digs, and an ace.
 
Across the two matches, Fordham hit .290 and were led on offense by a combined 58 kills from Moody and Brown. Seven different Rams recorded an ace, with a total of 15 for the day. At the net, the hosts averaged 2.31 blocks per set, totaling 18.5, led by Pejouan's 13.
 
The Rams will look for the trifecta tomorrow at 2 p.m. against the Quakers on ESPN+.