There’s seldom been a more exciting time in the history of Fordham Volleyball. Coach Ian Choi’s 2024 team brings a potent mixture of experience and youth that should give the Rams a crack at a deep postseason run.
Since Choi entered the picture, the Rams have been competitive in the Atlantic 10 Conference, even making their first-ever conference championship appearance in 2021. Choi’s club burst out to a 7-0 start in 2023, finishing at 17-12 overall and at a respectable sixth place in the A-10, with an 8-10 record against in-conference competition.
The Rams have managed to retain the majority of their central rotation, one headlined by two-time All-A-10 first-teamer Whitley Moody. The outside hitter enters her graduate year as one of the most effective attackers in Rams history — last year, she paced the club with 3.6 kills/set, good for second in the A-10.
Not far behind her is junior Audrey Brown, whose 3.22 kills/set were good for third in the A-10 and earned her All-A-10 second-team honors. Brown ranks among the Rams’ best-ever finishers, leading the entire A-10 in kills last season with 345 — no one else topped 300.
Among others, Whitney Woodrow should be a massive contributor to the Rams’ high-octane offensive engine; as a setter, she turned defense into offense at an absurd rate last year, posting over 850 digs and 850 assists. Rotation fixture junior Zoe Tabalong is in for a big season, too; she and senior Lauryn Sweeney are two-way contributors on the outside, racking up digs and kills at impressive clips.
Choi loaded up on length and talent with his recruiting class, bringing in five players with stellar high school and club resumes. The incoming freshmen won’t be alone in upholding the stonewall status that the Ram’s defense has built, though. The Rams’ roster has a slew of talented returning defenders, including a rising star in sophomore Tatum Holderied. Factor in names like sophomore Lorenza Rosenkilde, junior Alexa Pyle and senior Audrey Hayes, and the Rams should improve as a blocking team, despite already placing sixth in blocks/set and fourth in total block assists among A-10 clubs.
The Rams have been on an upward trajectory since Choi became head coach, and in 2024, they’ll put their most talented and balanced squad on the hardwood, possibly since the inception of Fordham Volleyball. How the team gels on the court remains to be seen, but their combination of incoming talent and returning star power leaves them with aspirations of another playoff run. Don’t be surprised if this team makes a serious push at an A-10 title, even when the conference seems as competitive as ever.
It’s a long road until November, though; a road that begins on Aug. 30-31 in Colorado, with non-conference matches against the United States Air Force Academy and the University of South Dakota.
