BRONX, N.Y. - After starting the regular season with a program record seven straight victories, the Fordham University Volleyball team now turns its attention to the Atlantic 10 side of the calendar, hosting Duquesne for a pair of matches this weekend. The Rams will square off with the Dukes Friday night at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+ before a second meeting between the two sides Saturday at 2:00 p.m. from the Rose Hill Gym.

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.

Runnin' Back the Rose Hill Classic

The Rams hosted their annual tournament, The Rose Hill Classic on campus last weekend, welcoming Dartmouth and FDU. Taking on the Big Green Friday, Fordham would take a close opening set, before the two sides traded 25-17 victories in succeeding frames. Taking Dartmouth to extra points in the fourth set, the visitors forced a fifth set, where the Rams closed out impressively to take the match. 

Against FDU they would again exchange the opening two sets but from there Fordham would never concede the lead again and take the match in four. The victory, which served as the non-conference finale in the regular season, marks the best start to any season under Head Coach Ian Choi, with the Rams' 7-0 start to campaign the best in program history.

The Rams offense, which includes six attackers with 40 or more kills, is led by a pair of 100-point attackers in Whitley Moody (161) and Audrey Brown (137), with each hitting at more than 3.6 kills per set. Orchestrating the offense has been freshman setter Whitney Woodrow who comes in averaging 9.32 assists per set with 354 on the year and she leads the team with nine service aces. As a team, Fordham has hit .225 for the season at 13.4 kills per set, while holding opponents to .166 attacking in 2023.

Defensively,  Fordham sees three players enter the weekend averaging better than three digs per set, led by libero Mallory Lipski at 5.18 digs per set and 197 for the year, followed by Moody and Woodrow. At the tape, both Nailah Jenkins and Tatum Holderied have come in and become a force for the Rams, as Jenkins has tallied 34 total blocks at 0.89/set followed by 29 at 0.88 per set by Holderied.

Duquesne Dukes

Playing eight games during its non-conference season, Duquesne enters A-10 competition at 5-3 on the year, opening with wins over Saint Peter's and Merrimack before two victories over Canisius and a four-set defeat of Robert Morris in early September. The Dukes have played just two matches since Sept. 2 after having one of their tournaments canceled, and come into The Bronx following back-to-back losses to East Carolina and Queens (NC) a week ago.

Next Stop

Fordham Volleyball, with the exception of a single midweek home date in October, will spend the next three weekends away from the northeast, making their first road trip of A-10 play next weekend with a pair of matches at Dayton.