In the 36-year history of Fordham University Volleyball, sustained success has been hard to come by. In 2020 and 2021, a group of four outstanding student-athletes changed that forever.

“They’ve revolutionized Fordham Volleyball” — that was the first thing head coach Ian Choi had to say about the group, which features graduate student Whitley Moody and seniors Lauryn Sweeney, Ryan Naumann and Audrey Hayes.

This Saturday, as the Rams readied for their final match of the 2024 season, the second of a two-game stint against Virginia Commonwealth University, those contributions — and the emotions that accompanied them — began to set in.

“I’m so incredibly proud of them,” said Choi, who just finished his seventh season with Fordham and has coached the class of 2025 for the majority of his tenure. 

The 2024 campaign has been a disappointing one, with the Rams finishing 7-20 overall and 3-15 in conference play, but it’s an outlier considering what this class has done.

“We’ve always been kind of towards the bottom of the pack, but since they’ve all committed, we’ve had unprecedented success,” Choi reflected, highlighting the group’s 2021 Atlantic 10 championship appearance — the first in program history — and their 10-1 run to open the 2023 season.

That 2021 team was spearheaded by this graduating class, who were freshmen and sophomores at the time — Moody led the team with 373 kills and was tabbed to the All-A-10 Second Team, while Naumann, Sweeney and Hayes each played roles in guiding the club to the promised land. 

When asked about his favorite memory from the past four years, Choi’s knee-jerk reaction was to point toward that historic 2021 run. Specifically, he cited the semifinal match with VCU, when Sweeney subbed in for an injured Moody and delivered a career-best seven-kill performance to heroically lift Fordham to the championship game: “[Moody] went down… and then [Sweeney] came in as a true freshman and she helped finish the job… when that happened I knew it was gonna be a really good group of kids.”

His intuitions were right. Four years later, Fordham has etched itself among the conference’s contenders, its outgoing class having cultivated a familial culture that goes beyond the hardwood.

“It hasn’t only been their efforts or their talent, but what really stands out is their willingness to find a competitive harmony on the team that we’ve been working so hard to build,” asserted Choi. 

That harmony will endure even without them on the court. It’s a harmony whose foundational chords are found in the leadership of figures like Sweeney and Hayes. 

“The way we have worked together to show leadership, create community and reform our team culture has been hands-down my most meaningful experience at Fordham,” remarked Sweeney. “Fordham Volleyball is about so much more than sport. The relationships with my teammates, coaches, athletic training staff and sports psychologists have taught me what it means to give wholeheartedly to others.”

Hayes echoed that sentiment, saying, “I wouldn’t change a single thing about [these four years]. Being a D1 athlete and a part of this team has truly made me a better person and I’ve come out with lifelong friends and for that I’m grateful.”

The “team culture” Sweeney alluded to manifested itself in a style of play marked by emotion and love between teammates. In a losing season, the bench never acted as such. They were consistently rowdier and more supportive than their opponents’ bench and managed to create new choreographed celebrations with each match. My personal favorite was a push-up challenge that made players do as many push-ups as the other team had service errors. Other favorites were the worm and a “heave-ho” chant, whose meaning remains ambiguous to this day. 

Sweeney was a frequent victim of the push-up ritual but is better remembered for her inspiring collegiate journey. As Choi said, she was integral to the 2021 run. In 2022, she was sidelined with an injury. In 2023, she got to play with her sister, Erynn Sweeney. In 2024, she had a breakout season, lodging career-highs in kills (73), digs (65) and blocks (11).

On the court, the bench’s aforementioned enthusiasm translated into a culture of constant support — post-point huddles, pats on the back and words of encouragement — led by Naumann, who acts as de facto captain in wearing the libero jersey.

Standing at just 5-foot-8, Naumann’s fearlessness in playing one of the hardest positions in sports cannot be understated. She was instrumental to the program’s success in her first three years, but really developed into a star in 2024. She had 29 receptions in her final two games and a team-leading 300 digs on the year, garnering the undying respect and support of her teammates in the process. She finishes her career with 102 matches played and 752 digs.

“I feel so grateful that I got to play at this program these past four years,” said Naumann, reflecting on her career. “This 2024 team is a really special group and I feel so lucky that I can say that I have made friends for life. I have learned so much from this sport and will cherish my time with Fordham Volleyball for the rest of my life.”

Then there’s Moody. Dubbed “The Kill Queen” and known for invoking “Moody Mania” (her family’s shirts bore both slogans), her 15 kills on Saturday put her at 1,637 career hammers, by far the most in Fordham history. Her 1,210 digs are seventh all-time; her 113 aces are good for 10th. Moody wraps up her career having played every single set in her final year, leading the team with 363 kills at a blistering .242 hitting rate. 

She’s an A-10 Rookie of the Year, a two-time all-A-10 Second Team member and will likely become a three-time All-A-10 First Team member when awards are announced later this fall. Her list of records and accolades is exhaustive and cannot be compounded into a single article. In every sense, she is Fordham Volleyball.

Moody joined the team in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. “It forced us to get really close really quickly, and I think we grew together over the last four years, just getting to know each other on and off the court, and that really helped us to do what we did on the court and help this program grow and develop in the way that it has,” the graduate ardently stated before Saturday’s match.

When reminded of her career kill total, Moody put her hands up to her face and emitted an “Oh my gosh,” laughing in disbelief. “I had no idea that I’d be able to accomplish what I have, and it really just speaks to the way that this program has uplifted me and my personal development on and off the court.”

When asked their favorite memories, the group had a resounding favorite answer: a 2023 trip to Japan that solidified the life-long bond they have with each other.

“We visited Arashiyama Monkey Park in Kyoto, walked across the Shibuya Crossing (the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world) in Tokyo and toured the castle in Osaka. And of course, we had a blast going to Tokyo Disneyland and stocking up on snacks at the 7-Elevens,” recalled Sweeney.

Before Saturday’s affair, the team and their families came together to honor the extraordinary class. Each player got to walk onto the floor with their families beside them, being gifted a bouquet of flowers and a framed jersey. 

Fordham paled to a VCU team in the midst of a 14-match winning streak, but played incredibly well, taking a set off the tournament-bound team on both Friday and Saturday. Moody’s 15 kills on Saturday led all players, while Naumann paced the team with 14 receptions. Sweeney and Hayes got massive ovations from a raucous Fordham section when they appeared in the latter three sets. Though they couldn’t get a win in their final game, their performance perfectly encapsulated the resilience and passion that has taken the program to new heights in the past several years.

When the match came to a close, there wasn’t a dry eye in the building. Players and coaches tearfully embraced for 10 minutes before making their way to the family section to get hugs and congratulations from all of the parents, not just their own.

It was a surreal moment, and yes, it was the end of an era. But it also showed that this team is more than just a team — they’re a family.

Before 2020, Fordham was the runt of the A-10 pack. 888 combined sets later, this graduating group has, as Choi said, revolutionized the Rams. Though we won’t see Moody, Sweeney, Naumann or Hayes take the court again, their mark on the program is indelible. 

A collegiate athletic career lasts four to five years. A family lasts forever. Thanks to the class of 2025, the Fordham Volleyball family is as strong as ever.