Before Fordham University Volleyball’s final match of the non-conference season, the message from Head Coach Ian Choi was clear: “We gotta win.” In Saturday’s bout with Central Connecticut State University, the Rams did just that.
Fordham advanced to 6-4 overall with a 25-14, 25-15, 25-12 shellacking of the 1-11 Blue Devils as the Rams’ built on their impressive start to the 2025 season.
For some teams, winning isn’t the top priority during non-conference play. For a Central Connecticut club struggling to find its footing, the concern is not the opponent: “I don’t necessarily think it’s prepping for [Fordham] … We’re 1-9, we haven’t finished games, we have a lot to focus on on our side … regardless of who the opponent is” said Head Coach Alyssa Broccoli before the Blue Devils’ losses to Fordham and Fairfield University last weekend.
For a Fordham team that recognizes the importance of heading into the Atlantic 10 (A-10) gauntlet with a win and a well-rested team, the sentiment couldn’t have been any more different.
“We’re in-season now — we gotta win, that’s the goal,” said Choi prior to the match.
To get the job done, Choi’s Rams did what they’ve done all season: rely on their strengths to overpower opponents at the net.
For a Fordham team that leads the nation in blocks per set, that starts defensively — and when you say “defense,” you can look no further than the superstar blocking tandem of senior Audrey Brown and junior Tatum Holderied.
Holderied ranks as the best per-set blocker in the country, while Brown is first among all right-side hitters in the same stat — when they combine above the tape, they form an impenetrable wall.
Against the Blue Devils, that wall led the Rams to a 14-block outing in just three sets. It’s Fordham’s seventh straight match with double-digit blocks, the longest such stretch in program history. Brown matched her career high of eight blocks, while Holderied contributed six.
Fordham’s success extended beyond its block, though. Entering play, Choi emphasized the team’s biggest spot for improvement: getting its middles involved in the offense.
After running their middles just 17 times out of 152 attacks in their loss to Temple University, the Rams didn’t exactly run a middle-heavy offense Saturday, but did combine for a .466 hitting rate when going middle.
While sophomore Sophia Kuyn was the most impactful player in the center of the floor, hammering five kills, freshman middle blocker Sophia Oliveira got a big ovation from Fordham’s bench as she rose up for her first career put-away late in set three.
Behind its middles, Fordham posted its most efficient scoring output of the season, hitting .307. Leading the Rams offensively was junior outside Erynn Sweeney, with 10 kills on 23 errorless attacks, good for a career-best .435 hitting percentage.
Sweeney continues her ascension as Fordham’s top attacker, just a year removed from sitting out the entire 2024 season.
Choi, who has worked closely with Sweeney during her career, called this season an “inflection point” for the California native, recalling her emergence into a starting spot: “Hey, there’s this opening for a spot. You have autonomy over your ability to get the spot, but it’s ultimately up to you to see if your mindset can prepare you for this spot.”
The early-season returns do well to determine whether Sweeney has risen to the occasion: “She has. To her credit, she has.”
The Rams enter conference play at an inflection point of their own. After a brutal start to A-10 play last year, the graduation of its best player, and a last-place pre-season ranking, Fordham will need to prove its mettle against reigning conference champions Loyola University Chicago.
The journey back to the postseason begins Friday at 5 p.m. in the Rose Hill Gym, with coverage on ESPN+. The teams will meet again Saturday at 2 p.m., wrapping up the Rams’ three-week-long homestand.
