Fordham Volleyball With a Pair of Losses on the Weekend
Volleyball was hoping to carry the momentum of some conference wins forward but will have to learn from two losses with similar stories instead as they begin to see the same opponents again.
Volleyball will try and take the lessons from its past week into a manageable stretch of upcoming A-10 games. (Courtesy of Fordham Athletics)
Fordham Volleyball’s Atlantic 10 play rolled on this past weekend. First, in Pittsburgh on Friday, the Rams lost to Duquesne University 1–3 and then dropped to the top-seeded University of Dayton Flyers 1–3.
Beginning against the Dukes, the final score read 19–25, 25–22, 21–25, 16–25. The Rams jumped out to a 20-12 lead in the second set, which they eventually won despite an offensive run by the hosts. Duquesne took care of business from there, however, fending off the Rams in a tight third set before running away with the match in the fourth. Duquesne is currently fifth in A-10 conference standings after the win at 4–5.
This mirrors their luck—or bad luck—in Sunday’s matchup, where the Flyers overtook them 13–25, 25–20, 20–25, 16–25. Dayton committed nine attack errors in the second set, and the Rams capitalized on them with a 7–0 run to seal the second set victory. However, they once again could not carry the momentum forward from there.
Sophomore outside hitter Whitley Moody led the offense in both games, and noted, “We played two very competitive volleyball games, and as a team, we feel like we are on the brink of our peak.”
The Rams last faced the Flyers in the A-10 Championship last year, where they were topped 15–25, 18–25 and 20–25 across three sets. This year, Dayton sits atop the conference once again at a perfect 9–0 there, 15–5 overall.
Fordham was hoping to continue winning in conference play following two wins last weekend, but are now 2-5 in that regard, 5–13 overall.
Sophomore middle blocker Isabel Fichtel said after those wins, “Our next focus as a team is just trying to maintain our flow and connection with each other. Volleyball is such a mental game. Even though we’ve already been working our hardest to achieve our physical goals, our next couple of matches will come down to how synced up our headspaces are.”
Moody continues, “As we go into the second half of conference, we are excited to play the same teams again because we have learned a lot, and we are expecting to keep winning through the end of the conference.”
The Rams will continue their road stint with games against George Mason University and George Washington University before taking on Dayton once again, this time at home, where they hold a 3–1 record.
