DAYTON, Ohio - Returning to action for the second weekend of Atlantic 10 Conference play, Fordham University volleyball will take on No. 21 Dayton in a pair of matches this weekend on the road. The Rams will take on the Flyers Friday night at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+ before squaring off again Saturday at 12:00 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.
Rallies and Resets
Opening the conference season in thrilling fashion, Fordham played its first two matches of Atlantic 10 play last weekend against Duquesne, splitting the series with the Dukes. The Rams would garner a victory in the first meeting between the two sides in five sets, behind a big comeback effort by the home team. After going down early in the frame, the Rams would battle back from down 11-14 in the fifth set to win 18-16 and steal the win. Duquesne would take the second game in the series on Saturday in straight sets.
The Rams offense, which includes six attackers with 40 or more kills, is led by a pair of 100-point hitters in Whitley Moody (173) and Audrey Brown (158), each hitting at more than 3.7 kills per set. Orchestrating the offense has been freshman setter Whitney Woodrow who comes in averaging 9.07 assists per set with 417 on the year. As a team, Fordham has hit .219 for the season at 13.1 kills per set, while holding opponents to .173 attacking in 2023.
Defensively, Fordham sees three players enter the weekend averaging better than three digs per set, led by libero Mallory Lipski with an even 5.00 digs per set and 230 for the year, followed by Moody and Woodrow. At the tape, both Nailah Jenkins and Tatum Holderied have become a force for the Rams, with Holderied tallying 41.0 total blocks and Jenkins sending back 37.0 total.
Dueling with Dayton
Entering this weekend ranked 21st Nationally in the AVCA Poll, Dayton enters the weekend with a 13-2 record to date, with its only losses coming in near five-set upsets of No. 2 Louisville in early September and No. 12 Marquette on opening weekend. Dayton does come in with one victory over a Top-25 team, having beat No. 24 Western Kentucky back on the first weekend of the year.
With a quartet of hitters over 100 kills for the year, the Flyers offense has been attacking at a .274 clip for the campaign, highlighted by 252 kills from Lexie Almodovar and 151 hammers from Taylor Russell. With a pair of other players also above the century mark, Alyssa Miller has controlled the Dayton offense for the majority of the season, handing out 595 assists coming in, with the next most on the team being 64 from Karissa Kaminski.
On the defensive side, Amelia Moore has been the leading force at the net with 67 block assists and three solos, ahead of 49 and three from Alayna Yates. Four players have corralled over 100 digs for the Flyers as well, paced by 248 from Kaminski and 135 from Almodovar, followed by Miller with 120 and Gaby Arroyo with 115.
Next Stop
Making their way back to the Bronx next time out, Fordham volleyball returns to action Wednesday for one of two midweek conference matchups this season with Rhode Island. Hosting URI this time around, first serve from the Rose Hill Gym is slated for 5:00 p.m. on what will be Fordham's Breast Cancer Awareness match as well.
