BRONX, N.Y. - After splitting last weekend's series with Davidson, Fordham University volleyball will play its final home matches of the campaign this Friday and Saturday, hosting Loyola-Chicago. First serve in Friday's match is slated for 6:00 p.m. with Saturday's match preceded by senior day festivities followed by game two between the Rams and Ramblers at 2:00 p.m.

Ramses Challenge

Fordham Athletics has a continuing fundraising challenge this year across all sports; fans can pledge support for their favorite teams in the Ramses Challenge, making a recurring donation for every service ace from Fordham Volleyball this season! Click here to be a part of the challenge! The Rams had 163 service aces last year.

For The Ramily

Celebrating the final home weekend of the regular season, the first 75 students in attendance at Friday's first game against Loyola-Chicago will receive a free Chick Fil A sandwich and Saturday fans are encouraged to arrive early for senior day festivities prior to the start of the match.

Dueling Davidson

The Rams dominated Saturday night at the Rose Hill Gym, downing Davidson in straight sets before falling to the Wildcats the following day. Having split the season series, the Rams do hold a tiebreaker over Davidson for fourth place in the Atlantic 10 standings at this point, having beaten them in one fewer set. 

Pacing a quartet of attackers with 100+ kills this season Whitley Moody leads the Fordham attack with over 300 on an average of 3.96/set followed by Audrey Brown just back of her with 325 at 3.65 kills per frame. Elsewhere on offense, Zoe Talabong has rattled off 179 hammers and Nailah Jenkins has slammed 136 to round out a well-balanced Rams' attack. Assisting the attack this season, Whitney Woodrow has recorded 767 assists while averaging 8.34/set, ahead of Mackenzie Colvin who's tallied 136 at 3.32/set.

Closing in on 500 digs for the season, libero Mallory Lipski has led the way defensively for the Rams with 432 digs (4.70/set), ahead of 281 from Moody and another 259 from Woodrow. At the net, Jenkins leads the block with 74 total ahead of 69 total from Tatum Holderied.

Building the Playoff Puzzle

With just four matches remaining in the 2023 regular season heading into Friday, there's still much to be decided before the conference tournament begins. Dayton finds themselves sitting atop the league table at 14-0 against conference opponents, followed by Loyola Chicago at 12-2, whom the Rams will host this weekend. VCU currently resides in the No. 3 slot with Fordham currently tied for fourth in the conference with Davidson, with both sitting at 7-7 in A-10 play.

Saint Louis now holds the final playoff spot if the tournament were to begin today, after leapfrogging Duquesne who are now seventh at 5-9, ahead of 4-10 George Washington, with George Mason and Rhode Island on the outside looking in.

The 2023 Atlantic 10 Championships are scheduled for Nov. 17-19 with the top six teams in the conference heading to Davidson, N.C. The top two seeds in the tournament will receive a first-round bye, with the two advancing teams being reseeded ahead of the semifinals. Claiming the A-10 tournament title also secures the winner an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Learn About Loyola

Leading a trio of players over 200 kills for the season, Karlie McNabb leads the team with 255 hammers at 2.93/set, followed by 211 from Addie Barnes and 208 from Emily Banitt. With nearly 800 assists in 2023, Bree Borum has dished out 793 assists at a 9.11/set average to lead the team. Defensively, Borum also leads the receptions with 280 at 3.22/set ahead of 216 from McNabb and 173 from Olivia Lovett.

Next Stop

Hitting the road to close the 2023 regular season, Fordham volleyball heads to Virginia for a pair of matches at George Mason.