By TARA SLEDJESKI
STAFF WRITER
Following a 14-19 2012 campaign, the Fordham women’s volleyball team is ready to hit the court again. With first-year coach Gini Ullery at the helm, the team now has its sights set on being one of the top six teams in the conference and making the Atlantic 10 tournament in November, hosted by George Washington University.
Coming into the season, the Rams are ranked eighth out of nine teams in the A-10, so they do have some work to do to make it to Washington D.C. in November. Coach Ullery believes that for the Rams to accomplish their goals, they cannot let situations get them down.
“I don’t really think we have many weaknesses except just leaving it all on the court, not letting situations get us down, not letting things not going our way get us down,” Ullery said. “We got to just fight through it.”
While it will be important for the Rams to keep their self-confidence, Ullery knows she does not have to worry about this team’s fight and energy. Ullery referred to the team’s fight as its biggest strength.
Another strength for the team this season will be experience. The team is comprised of mostly upperclassmen and includes seven seniors, with which Ullery is happy.
“It’s nice having a little bit more of an upper classmen team because they’ve been here, they know what Fordham’s about,” the coach commented. “They want to leave their mark on the program and this is how they’re going to start, this year.”
Among the upperclassmen on the team is Lisa Hipp, whom Ullery believes will be one of the team’s best players because she led the team in kills last season and has great energy. Senior Sarah Konkel was another player singled out to have a great season.
The Rams started on the path that will hopefully take them to the A-10 tournament on Aug. 30 in Rock Hill, S.C. at the Winthrop Classic. Their first opponent was Savannah State, which they beat three sets to none, with scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-15.
Konkel had a big game to start off her senior season, leading the team with 26 assists. It was a bright start to the Ullery era. But, things did not stay bright for long. The Rams lost their next two matches on Aug. 31 to Winthrop and Tennessee Tech.
The Rams’ second tournament of the season was the West Virginia Golden Horseshoe Challenge at West Virginia University on Sept. 6 and 7. Overall, the team fared better in Morgantown, W. Va., losing just one match of the four they played.
The Rams opened up the tournament with a 3-0 win over Navy, 25-18, 25-21 and 25-17. Again, Konkel led the team with 31 assists. Later the same day, the team took down Canisius 3-2. In the Canisius match, the Rams started 0-2, losing 21-25 and 22-25 before battling back and taking the final three sets by scores of 28-26, 25-19 and 17-15.
On the second day of the tournament, the Rams fell to host West Virginia 0-3 before picking up a win against Norfolk State later in the day. The team beat Norfolk State 3-0 with set scores of 25-6, 25- 15 and 25-19. Konkel had another 30-assist match to help the winning effort.
Following their first two tournaments, the Rams now have a 4-3 match record. So far Ullery like what she has seen from her new team, pointing out that despite being down at timesthe players never gave up. Hipp, too, is impressed with the Rams’ progress, believing they possess something that cannot be taught.
“We had a lot of energy,” Ullery said, “and we had a lot of fight which was really exciting to see because that’s something that has to come from the heart, you can’t teach that.”
The Rams kick off their home schedule on Tuesday, Sept. 10 against Hofstra in the Rose Hill Gym. After that, they make the short trip to Columbia on the weekend of Sept. 13 to participate in the Columbia Invitational, where they will play Boston College, Binghamton and Columbia.
