NEW YORK – Opening a stretch of three games in five days all within the friendly confines of the Rose Hill Gym, Fordham University Volleyball hosts A-10 leaders, No. 20 Dayton this weekend.
Weekend Plans
The Rams will take on the Flyers on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00 p.m. with both games streaming live on ESPN+. Saturday and Sunday will also be the Rams' Breast Cancer Awareness weekend.
Dueling Dayton
Ranked No. 20 in the nation, the Flyers enter the weekend with just one loss at 19-1 on the year, dropping just six sets total in those wins, including just one in their first nine matches in Atlantic 10 play, all victories. Lexie Almodovar leads the Flyers at 4.66 kills/set, and sits second on the team in digs at 2.30/set.
Hammer Time
Dominating the attack, especially of late, Whitley Moody is coming off five straight double digit performances, putting her past 250 kills for the year, while leading the team at 3.85/set, ahead of 164 from Audrey Brown, who sits second on offense, hitting at a 2.56/set clip.
In all but three of her 18 games played in 2024, Moody has tallied double digit kills, highlighted by a new career high with 25 hammers while hitting .447 in a four set win over Duquesne in Pittsburgh on Oct. 18. Brown has notched 10 or more kills on eight occasions thus far, including a season-high 19 kills against Lafayette on Sept. 13.
Double Trouble
Moody has also tallied nine double-doubles this season, with Whitney Woodrow sitting one back of her with eight after notching three straight heading earlier this month. Recording her first of the season against Lafayette, Ryan Naumann would tally 10 assists and 18 digs against the Leopards, and enters the weekend leading the team from the libero spot with 3.13 digs per set.
Tatum Holderied would post her first career double-double with a career-high 10 kills against FDU where she also had a pair of solo blocks and eight block assists for 10 total blocks on the night. Zoe Talabong would notch her first career double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs on the afternoon Oct. 19 at Duquesne.
Trouble at the Tape
Averaging over 2.0 blocks/set, the Rams have posted 10.0 or more total blocks on five occasions in 2024, and three of the last five matches, posting 11.0 and 12.0 respectively in the pair of matches at Duquesne.
Sophia Kuyn paces the team with 52.0 total blocks, leading a group of nine Rams with 10 or more, including Lorenza Rosenkilde and Moody with 46.0 and 35.0 respectively.
Rams Split at Duquesne
Rallying back from an opening set defeat, Fordham rattled off three straight set wins to claim a 3-1 at Duquesne Friday night. Continuing on a tear on the attack, Moody set a new career high for the second time this season, drilling 25 kills while hitting .368 for the match, tying the program record for kills in a four-set match set by Lisa Hipp vs. George Mason on Sept. 28, 2013.
For the second time in the last three matches, Fordham tallied 12.0 blocks, led again by both Rosenkilde and Kuyn, posting near identical statlines with one solo block, and five block assists along with seven kills apiece on the offensive front.
Trading the first two sets Saturday afternoon, the Rams fell in a four-set match at Duquesne, splitting the weekend series with the Dukes in Pittsburgh. Moody continued to dominate on offense with a team-high 20 kills along with 15 digs for her ninth double-double of 2024.
Talabong would notch her first career double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs, while Naumman led the dig numbers with 21. Woodrow would dish out 21 assists, and collect nine digs along with a trio of service aces, while on the block Rosenkilde had a solo and four assists, and Sophia Kuyn tallied four block assists as well.
Making History
Recording the Rams' 13th point of the opening set at Rhode Island in early October, and her fifth kill to that point in the match, Whitley Moody became the All-Time Program Kills Leader for Fordham Volleyball. Needing just five kills to break the mark of 1,443 set by Val Bosticco (1989-92), Moody would rattle off six kills in the first set alone, and would lead the attack hitting .308 for the match, drilling 16 kills and collecting nine digs along with a pair of service aces.
Moody, who has also tallied more attack attempts than any other Fordham player in history, is on pace to set the program record for kills per set average for a career over her now five year tenure donning Maroon and White.
Next Stop
Fordham will stay at home for a Tuesday meeting with Rhode Island at the Rose Hill Gym, completing the second-leg of the home-and-home against the Rams from earlier this month. Opening serve is set for just after 5:00 p.m.
