Wilmington, N.C. – (August 26, 2023) – The Fordham volleyball team capped off their opening weekend of action with a perfect 3-0 record at the UNCW Hampton University Invitational, winning the tournament after victories over Presbyterian and Stetson on Saturday. With the win, Fordham is 3-0 for the first time since 2017.
"Historically, we've struggled with doubleheaders, but the maturity, resolve and trust this team has strived finally paid off highlighted by an epic five-set match," said head coach
Ian Choi. "Everyone has not only bought in and owned their roles, but they are not letting their roles affect their motivation to push each other and the team. It's a special group this year."
In the opening match of the day, the Rams rallied back from a set down to defeat Presbyterian, 3-1. Final set scores were 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, and 25-23.
The first set had a rough start for the Rams, committing 13 attack errors, which led Presbyterian, who only had one error to the 1-0 set lead.
Fordham then flipped the script in the second set, led by
Whitley Moody and
Audrey Brown, who each had five kills. The Rams cut down on the errors, outhitting the Blue Hose, .200 to .056, and evening the match at one set apiece.
The match continued to turn in Fordham's favor in the third set, starting with a 9-3 edge. A 5-0 run by Presbyterian whittled the lead to one at 9-8, but the Rams never gave up the lead, taking it by a 25-20 score.
Nailah Jenkins was the big hitter in the set Fordham, posting five kills, while
Ryan Naumann had a pair of key service aces late in the set.
The fourth set went back and forth, putting the score at 23 all. Fordham then earned match point on a kill from Moody and received the final point on an attack error to win the match, three sets to one.
For Fordham, Moody recorded a match-high 17 kills to go with 21 digs, while Brown added 14 kills and five digs. Sweeney finished with a career-high 10 kills to go with eight digs in the match with
Whitney Woodrow having a double-double (50 assists, 13 digs). Defensively,
Mallory Lipski had 22 digs and five assists, while Naumann notched a career-high 16 digs and two aces.
The day ended with an excellent five-set affair with Stetson, where the Rams won by scores of 23-25, 25-23, 25-17, 16-25, and 15-12.
The opening set saw the score tied at 23, following a kill by Brown. Stetson though got back-to-back kills from Lily Mueller and Anabelle Standish to finish off a 25-23 set win.
Fordham responded in the second set with the exact same winning score, where
Zoe Talabong posted the set-winning kill.
The Rams got out to a strong start in the third set, netting nine of the first 12 points and never looked back, taking it by eight. Moody accounted for a team-best four kills in the set.
The Hatters answered back by taking the fourth set by nine points, hitting .410 in the frame as a team.
The decisive fifth set saw Fordham jet out to a 5-1 lead and led 8-4 at the side changeover. With Fordham eventually leading 12-7, Stetson made a final push, getting within one at 13-12 on a service ace. However, a Jenkins' kill and a Stetson attack error gave the last two points to the Rams, for the 15-12 win and match victory.
Moody led the way again as she was selected as the Invitational's MVP after 19 kills, 18 digs, and two aces with Brown adding 16 kills. Jenkins (10 kills, four blocks) and Lipski (36 digs, five assists) joined Moody on the All-Invitational team. Woodrow and
Mackenzie Colvin split the setter duties, recording 30 assists and 22 assists, respectively.
Fordham will next be in action on September 1st as a part of the Big Apple Tournament, when the team heads to Columbia for a 7:00 PM match.
