FAIRFAX, Va. – After officially clinching a spot in the 2023 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship next weekend, Fordham University volleyball split the weekend series at George Mason, falling in a hard fought contest Saturday afternoon.
Rattling off 12 kills on just two errors in the match, Audrey Brown led the Rams on offense in the regular season finale, hitting .400 individually and finishing just ahead of Whitley Moody who drilled 11 kills, as the two combined for more than half of the team's 37 hammers for the day.
Zoe Talabong rattled off nine kills while Whitney Woodrow controlled the offense for much of the day, dishing out 25 assists. With 16 digs Mallory Lipski once again led the receiving efforts as she finished ahead of eight digs from both Talabong and Woodrow. Tatum Holderied tallied four block assists as she returned to the starting lineup Saturday, and finished ahead of Talabong who recorded a solo rejection and a pair of block assists.
After seeing each other square after the first 20 points of the opening set, George Mason would begin to pull away, gathering as much as a five point advantage at one point, before taking the set by four. Deadlocked through the early portions of the second as well, the Rams garnered as much as a four point advantage towards the middle of the set. After tying on multiple occasions late, the Patriots would pull away to take a 2-0 lead with a three-point win in the frame.
The third set again would see the home side take a big lead early, but tough Rams' squad rallied back into the match, despite trailing by as much as seven. Fordham would cut the deficit to as little as one, and sent the frame into extra points before the Patriots pulled away to take the victory.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Rams earned the No. 6 seed in the A-10 Tournament, which begins on Friday, with the Rams slated to take on No. 3 VCU at 3:30 p.m.
