Before the 2024 campaign saw its first serve, the Atlantic 10’s coaches were polled on the strength of the conference’s teams. The teams were then ranked according to the poll on a 1-100 scale. The Fordham University Rams and Saint Louis University Billikens found themselves separated by just six points — it’s no surprise that, in an intense A-10 opening series, virtually every set was decided by the thinnest of margins.
In the end, each set seemed to be decided by a single, pivotal, momentum-shifting rally. Despite their unwavering effort, though, the Rams came up on the wrong side of that rally more often than not.
Friday marked the first taste of conference play for these teams, both of whom entered with a sub-.500 record after facing staunch competition in non-conference play.
As expected, Friday’s first set was tight: after 22 serves, the clubs found themselves knotted at 11. From there, though, the Billikens stormed out to a 24-15 lead. After staving off a late rally, they took set one, 25-19.
The second set proved to be an even greater back-and-forth affair than the first. In the early going, the Rams were paced by sophomore Lorenza Rosenkilde and junior Audrey Brown, who each tabbed three kills as St. Louis gained a 16-15 edge. From there, Brown took the reins, netting two more hammers to give the Rams their 24th and 25th points, cementing a match-evening 25-21 win.
As the Rams and Bills danced back and forth for a third straight set, Rosenkilde and graduate student Whitley Moody hoisted the team towards victory. Speaking of hoist, beginning after Rosenkilde delivered a mammoth kill after a lengthy rally, the Fordham bench began inexplicably hoisting sophomore Lola Fernandez into the air. Fernandez, who appeared in four sets and delivered an ace, laughed inconsolably as she was repeatedly thrust into the air when Moody forced a Billikens timeout off a block, and again when Brown stopped a St. Louis rally with a vicious kill, bringing the set to 17-19.
Down 21-20, Fernandez subbed into the game and stayed grounded as she trotted to the service line, contributing to the game’s tying point. That point proved to be an appetizer, with her next serve kicking off what may have been the longest rally of the season; St. Louis held the advantage for most of the point — Fernandez, senior Lauryn Sweeney and sophomore Whitney Woodrow all made miraculous digs to keep Fordham afloat. After a minute of back-and-forth play, the Rams forced an attack error and the Rose Hill Gymnasium exploded in celebration. With the momentum in hand, the Rams maintained control, with Rosenkilde meeting the Bills at the net for a set-winning kill.
Fordham carried that energy to set number four, which somehow managed to be even more of a nail-biter than the three that preceded it. The difference seldom reached more than three, with the Rams hanging on to a lead for its entirety. That is, until the Billikins evened the match at 20 and took their first lead at 22-21. With a chance to put the match away, Fordham just couldn’t muster enough to regain the advantage. Down 24-22, Sweeney crushed a clutch kill; she and freshman Sophia Kuyn then combined for a block, tying it at 24 and putting the win-by-two rule into effect. After a St. Louis point, it was Brown’s turn to tie things up, landing a kill from the outside. With victory within their grasp, Fordham succumbed to St. Louis’ attack, surrendering two near-indefensible kills en route to a 27-25 loss.
It was only fitting that we’d see a set five. However, having given an unremitting effort in four full sets of play, the Rams appeared to run out of gas. A bevy of errors on the service, reception and attack allowed St. Louis to snatch the win out of Fordham’s hands, 15-4.
All told, it was Brown who catalyzed the offense, netting 18 kills at a jaw-dropping .368 clip. Moody added 10 more dunks and added 10 digs to boot; senior libero Ryan Naumann reached double-digit digs, too, leading the club with 16. Woodrow was, again, sensational at setter, tallying 45 assists, 14 digs, four service aces and two beautifully executed setover kills.
Rosenkilde had one of the strongest showings of her Fordham tenure, too, racking up a career-high 10 hammers at a .333 rate and contributing on five blocks.
One sleep later, the Rams had a chance to avenge themselves in Saturday’s matinee matchup. While the Rams held an edge over the Bills for much of their game Friday, the opposite was true on Saturday. Perennially playing catchup, the Rams couldn’t get closer than two down the stretch, eventually losing frame one, 25-19.
Set two told a near-identical story. Brown and Moody combined for consecutive kills, tying things up at 23. At the match’s inflection point, though, as was the case for set four on Friday, it was Billikens who tipped the scales in their favor. Instead of knotting things up at one-all, the Rams entered the third period down 0-2.
In yet another razor-thin contest, set three ultimately yielded a St. Louis sweep. Facing a deficit all set but staying within three down the stretch, the Bills hung on to complete the series sweep, 25-22. Though the scorecard reads 3-0, it was a much more contentious affair. Brown hit .500, drilling 10 kills; Moody led the pack with 11 putaways at a .300 rate. Kuyn and Sweeney were again impactful, adding four and eight kills, respectively, with serious efficiency.
Despite looking like a well-oiled machine on the attack, the Rams continued to struggle uncharacteristically on defense, allowing 11 aces, making 11 reception errors and netting just two total blocks.
Now 0-2 in conference play, the Rams enter this week empty-handed despite fighting valiantly against a legitimate A-10 contender. In that coaches’ preseason poll, the Rams and Billikens were both projected to make the A-10 playoffs; while they’re not scheduled for a rematch during regular season play, a late-November date in Dayton could decide their fates.
Before then, though, Fordham will need to rebound and reinsert itself in the playoff race as in-conference competition continues its escalation. They’ll be doing so perhaps with the blessing of His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican City’s Secretary of State, who paid a visit to Rose Hill on Sunday and spoke with freshman Bridget Woodruff, sophomore Erynn Sweeney and senior Lauryn Sweeney. One can only imagine that Cardinal Parolin — who often dons black and red robes as opposed to the typical white — is the libero of the Christian church.
With an air of holiness, the team will head south for the nation’s capital for a two-game tilt with George Washington University this Friday and Saturday. The Revolutionaries are a curious case — tabbed as one of the A-10’s weakest clubs entering the season, they find themselves 11-4 and 5-1 on their home court. It’ll be a tough test for a Rams club that could use a pair of wins to avoid playing catch-up as the race for the playoffs wanes on.
