NEW YORK – Splitting their first two games at the Big Apple Tournament this weekend in upper Manhattan, Fordham University Volleyball rolled to a straight set win over Manhattan early in the day, before falling to Syracuse in four sets later in the afternoon.
Battling for Borough bragging rights in game one, Fordham would use a 7-0 run late in the opening set to take it 25-21, before cruising to 25-13 wins in the final two frames to sweep Manhattan and claim the Rams' first win of the 2024 campaign.
The Rams would continue to dominate as they began the match against Syracuse, rattling off a 10-0 run right out of the gates, and going on to take a 25-15 win in set one. Countering with a five-point victory in set two, the Orange would go on to take a 25-14 win in set three, and would fight off a late rally by the Rams in set four to take the match 3-1.
Match 1 - Fordham 3, Manhattan 0
A pair of Rams notched their first double-doubles of the campaign against Manhattan as Whitley Moody finished with 14 kills and 15 digs to lead the team in both categories, while Whitney Woodrow would tally 34 assists and 11 digs. The pair would pace a group of four Rams in double figures in receptions, with Lauryn Sweeney collecting 11 along with seven kills, and Ryan Naumann tallied 10 digs and a trio of assists.
Audrey Brown would tally 10 kills to finish in double figures, while Woodrow and Sophia Kuyn paced the blocking totals with three block assists each. Lorenza Rosenkilde would tally a pair of solo blocks in the match as well as a pair of block assists and three kills.
As a team the Rams rattled off 43 kills while hitting .262 for the match, assisting on 40 of those hammers, while also recording 7.0 total blocks and a trio of service aces.
The two sides would look to find their footing at the start of set one, with neither side pulling away by more than three points midway through. After the Jaspers garnered a slim 17-15 advantage, Lauryn Sweeney stepped behind the serving line and helped her side rattle off seven straight points to take a four point lead, which they would see out for a 25-21 win. Kuyn would tally an impressive seven kills in set one, while Woodrow would tally 14 of her 34 assists in the opening frame.
Taking control of set two early, Fordham would go on a 7-0 run once again off the serve of Woodrow to extend an 8-2 lead and force a Manhattan timeout. From there another 8-3 extended push by the Rams would see them go up double digits at 16-6, and cruise from there to a 25-13 win on 11 kills and just three errors.
Fordham's offense continued to trend upwards in set three, hitting .364 in the set as a team, taking a six point lead at 10-4 in the early going. Manhattan started to close the gap, coming to within 14-10, before the Rams tallied 11 of the final 14 points scored, en route to a straight set victory in the Battle of the Bronx.
Match 2 - Syracuse 3, Fordham 1
As she did earlier in the day, Moody would pace the Rams' efforts on the attack once again as she drilled 14 kills and finished one off the team-lead with 16 digs. Ryan Naumann would pace the receiving totals with 17 on the night, while Audrey Brown also finished in double figures in kills with 11 and also tallied three block assists.
Kuyn would tally five block assists, while both Woodrow and Tatum Holderied would tally a solo block apiece, with Holderied also adding four block assists. Lauryn Sweeney would tally seven kills ahead of six from Holderied to round out the attaching highlights. Fordham would record a season-high 13 total blocks while hitting .213 across the four sets, slamming 43 kills on 41 assists and collecting 71 digs as a team.
Fordham would open the match in dominating fashion, scoring ten straight points to start, and cruising from there to take a 25-15 win in the frame. Brown would lead the way in that set with six kills on non errors, hitting .857 in the period.
Six different players combined for the Rams' 14 kills in set two, with no player having more than three as the Rams spread the wealth in a closely contested second stanza. Set three would see the Orange pull away for a 25-14 win in the third set, and looked to pull away in the fourth before a strong resurgence by the Rams late.
With Syracuse leading 22-16, the Rams would rattle off seven of the next eight points, forcing a pair of timeouts by the Orange and bringing the score back to within three points, but a pair of late points by Syracuse saw them hold off the Rams for a four set win.
Fordham is back in action tomorrow afternoon to close the Big Apple Tournament against the hosts, Columbia at 2:00 p.m.
