BRONX, N.Y. – Going the distance for the third consecutive match, Fordham University Volleyball overcame a late comeback effort Friday night to defeat George Washington in five sets. The win improves the Rams to 13-7 on the season and into a three way tie at 4-6 in league play.
Taking the first set by a comfortable margin, the Rams would go up 2-0 after a closely contested second stanza, before a pair of set victories by George Washington, as the teams went to extra points in set three, followed by a 25-19 win for the visitors the following frame. Fordham would dominate in the fifth set, taking an early 7-2 lead before winning the set by six.
"This squad sure knows how to give the crowd their money's worth, but this match epitomizes our identity as a team," said Head Coach Ian Choi. "We blinked in set three and George Washington got into a flow. Despite that, we worked together to regroup, trust each other and earn that W."
Tying her career-high on the attack, Audrey Brown paced the Fordham attack with 22 kills, while Whitney Woodrow tallied 47 assists to lead a group of eight players who tallied at least one helper on the night. Elsewhere on offense, Whitley Moody tallied 16 hammers and Zoe Talabong tallied 15, with each notching a double-double with 13 digs apiece.
Leading the defensive effort for the Rams with 22 digs, Mallory Lipski led a group of seven players in that category, including 15 from Woodrow and 11 from Ryan Naumann, who tallied double figured for the second match in a row. With five total blocks in her third consecutive start, Lorenza Rosenkilde contributed a solo rejection and four block assists to pace the efforts at the tape, followed by both Talabong and Nailah Jenkins with three block assists each.
Despite their opponents keeping it close in the early going, Fordham would take a slim lead using a quick three-point run, but were quickly countered by George Washington, who would tie the match a short while later at nine-all. From there the Rams would regain their footing, taking another three-point lead into the media timeout, out of which they doubled that margin before taking the set 25-19.
In the second frame the visitors would see themselves out front early, taking as much as a five point advantage towards the middle stages of the set. Holding that lead at 15-10, Fordham would bounce back with eight of the next 10 points to draw level and take a one-point lead themselves. George Washington would continue the back and forth play late, taking the lead one last time at 22-21, but the Rams would take back the lead and go on to take the set by three.
Going to the third, neither side would give an inch in the early going, trading point for point for much of the period, and were never separated by more than three points at any stage of the set. Fordham would take back the lead late, and go on to push set point, but a rally by George Washington sent the frame into extra points where they would win 29-27 to stay alive in the match.
After splitting the opening points of the match 9-9 to start, the Revolutionaries would begin to pull away, holding the lead by three at the media timeout. Out of that stoppage the visitors would take their biggest lead of the match to capture the fourth set and force a decisive fifth stanza.
Going the distance for the third match in a row, Fordham would open the fifth with an emphatic run, scoring seven of the first nine points, forcing George Washington to use both its timeouts before the teams switched sides of the court. When they did alternate sides, the visitors were able to slightly cut into the deficit before Fordham was able to close late with a six-point win in the final set.
Fordham and George Washington will square off again tomorrow from the Rose Hill Gym at 2:30 p.m. with the match also broadcast live on ESPN+.
