NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – On a night that saw history be made for senior outside Whitley Moody, the Fordham University Volleyball team played another all-around game Friday night with a 3-1 victory over LIU on Day two at the Iona Invitational. Moody would slam 11 kills on the night, becoming the newest member of the Fordham 1,000 kills club as the Rams claimed the win in four sets to remain undefeated at 7-0 on the year.
The defense stole the show once again and for the third consecutive match held its opponents to under .200 hitting for the night, allowing just nine kills in the first and third sets. Despite being held to single digits hammers themselves in the opening set, Fordham rattled off 12 or more in each of the following three frames, including a match-high 18 in the fourth set to pull away for the win.
Friday night also marked the third consecutive double-double for Whitney Woodrow as the rookie setter dished out 28 assists along with 19 digs. Despite setting a new personal best for digs in a game, Woodrow finished third in that category behind a game-high 27 from libero Mallory Lipski who also tallied eight assists, and Moody also notched a double-double, collecting 20 digs in addition to her 11 kills, the second most on offense for the Rams, to give her 1,001 for her collegiate career.
"LIU came out with some scrappy defense and presented plenty of opportunities for us to refine our out-of-system offense," said Head Coach Ian Choi. "They put some pressure on us but I'm happy to see our response."
Audrey Brown slammed 13 hammers to lead the attack, and the Rams also saw help from Lauryn Sweeney who added seven kills, and both Tatum Holderied and Nailah Jenkins notched six hammers apiece. On the block, Jenkins added a solo rejection and three block assists, while Holderied added five assists and Brown added three.
Fordham opened the afternoon by scoring the first five points of the contest and would take an early 12-6 advantage. An 8-3 run would push that lead to 12 and give the Rams enough cushion to see out the win 25-14. Despite falling behind early, LIU would counter their opening set defeat to battle back level in the midway portions of set two, before pulling away late to tie the match at two.
Set three would see the Rams and Sharks go back and forth early until the 7-7 mark, at which point Fordham would score seven straight points to double up LIU and gain the upper hand in the set, but it would be a 25-13 win to push a 2-1 lead in the contest. A close battle in set four saw the Sharks go on top multiple times, but despite their opponents' best efforts, Fordham would hold off a late comeback try to take a 25-23 victory in the frame and claim its seventh consecutive victory to open to 2023 season.
The Rams will close the Iona Invitational tomorrow morning when they return to New Rochelle to take on Boston College on Saturday at 11 a.m.
