Fordham Volleyball’s historic season has experienced a bit of a stutter as of late, dropping both matches against the University of Dayton this weekend, bringing their losing streak to three. Fans should not be too disappointed however, as Fordham was on the road against Dayton who is a national ranked program, currently at #21. Many knew this would be one of the team’s toughest matchups yet, as the Flyers’ great season is reflected in their 15-2 record.
It is hard to find much promise for Fordham in two 0-3 losses, but it is again important to emphasize that the Rams were simply outmatched. Beginning with Friday’s match, Fordham’s slow start would be representative of the rest of the series, as they started by giving up six straight points. They were unable to get any sort of runs or momentum going, as anytime they would try to find a rhythm they were immediately denied by Dayton. In the first set, their longest scoring run was of three, compared to Dayton’s runs of six, five and four throughout. The struggles continued on offense even after set one. In fact, three would be Fordham’s longest scoring streak all day, as they just could not get any sort of consistency going. They dropped the first 25-15, the second 25-12 and the third 25-14.
Day two of the matchup continued on Saturday, with Fordham showing a bit more signs of life near the end. The Rams lost the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-14 respectively, but rallied a bit in the third. They finally started out with six straight points, and things were starting to look up. However, Dayton was able to slowly whittle away at their lead, crawling back to go on a 9-1 run which they were able to use to run away with the rest of the set. The third set would end 25-20, closer than the other five on the weekend, but still disappointing.
It would have been nice to have been able to come away with a set or two, but Dayton was the superior team and played like it. Standout performances from Fordham throughout this series included freshman Tatum Holderied and sophomore Zoe Talabong, each playing well despite the losses.
The team will be back in action in a rare midweek appearance at home against the University of Rhode Island on Wednesday, with their second match against them coming later in the month. This is a must win for Fordham, as they need to continue strong as conference play continues, especially considering Rhode Island’s 3-13 record to start this season.
