NEW YORK – Taking to the skies for the second weekend in a row, Fordham University volleyball heads to the Windy City for a pair of matches at Loyola Chicago.
Weekend Plans
On the penultimate weekend of the regular season, the Rams (7-16, 3-11 A-10) and Ramblers (14-11, 9-5 A-10) will square off Friday night at 7:00 PM EST and Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM EST. Both matches will air live on ESPN+ and tickets are available to purchase for those in Chicago via the Ramblers athletics website.
Loyola Chicago
At 14-11 on the year, the Ramblers have posted a 9-5 mark in Atlantic 10 play, entering the weekend on a five match win streak. With three players averaging over 2.16 kills/set, Marta Cvitkovic leads the Ramblers with 261 kills on the year, just shy of 3.00/set for the season.
Playoff Picture
With four matches still to play including this weekend's series, Loyola Chicago is tied with Davidson for third in the A-10 standings, while the lower five teams in the conference, including Fordham, are all still mathematically in contention for the sixth and final playoff spot. Duquesne, George Mason, and Saint Louis are all 4-10 in league play with both Fordham and Rhode Island sitting at 3-11.
Hammer Time
Since breaking the program record for career kills in early October, Whitley Moody has been a dominant force on the attack, leading the team at 3.71 kills/set, and sitting just over 300 kills for the season. In all but four of her 21 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. Audrey Brown sits second on the team with 197 kills at 2.49/set, and has notched 10 or more kills on eight occasions thus far, including a season-high 19 kills against Lafayette on Sept. 13.
Trouble at the Tape
Averaging over 2.0 blocks/set over the course of the 2024 campaign, the October saw the Rams post nearly 8.0 blocks per set as a team, including four matches with eight or more total blocks. Sophia Kuyn and Lorenza Rosenkilde pace the team with 60.0 total blocks including 18 solo between the two, leading a group of 10 Rams with 10 or more, including Moody who sits third with 43.0.
Ryan Naumann has paced the Rams from the libero spot, collecting 3.27 digs/set as one of five Rams to tally over 2.1 digs/set this season, ahead of Moody at 2.9/set. Zoe Talabong has averaged 2.86 digs/set, followed by Whitney Woodorw with 2.66/set.
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 in October. 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 3.22 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.
Weekend at Davidson
Falling in a pair of 3-0 setbacks at Davidson, Fordham would hit just shy of .200 for the match Saturday, but the Wildcats would slam 15 or more kills in each of the three frames to take the win over the Rams. Fordham would fall in each period by four points or less, but Davidson managed to hold off the Maroon and White at the end of each set to take the match in straight sets.
Whitley Moody would scatter 11 kills on the night ahead of eight from Audrey Brown and seven from Zoe Talabong. Getting the nod in the starting lineup Alexa Pyle would finish as one of three Rams with four kills apiece along with Lorenza Rosenkilde and Bridget Woodruff.
It was a tightly contested opening frame Sunday but a gritty Davidson squad for the second day in a row pulled away late for the first of three as Fordham University Volleyball fell in straight sets to the Wildcats.
A competitive match right out of the gates, the two teams would exchange long rallies and extended runs before a late rally by Davidson to set the difference as the first set came to a close, taking it by just three points. Tied at seven-all early in set two, the Wildcats would use a pair of extended runs to pull away midway through the frame, going on to win it 25-15. Davidson would pull away earlier in set three, doubling up the Rams at 10-5, and going on to take an eight point win to sweep the match.
Moody led the offense with 8 kills, along with six digs, finishing ahead of Zoe Talabong with seven kills and nine digs. Audrey Brown would scatter six hammers Sunday, while Lorenza Rosenkilde and Bridget Woodruff would nail four apiece.
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 return to The Bronx for the final weekend of the regular season, taking on VCU in a pair of matches at the Rose Hill Gym.
