Fordham Volleyball is back this Friday, Aug. 25, with a slate of three games in the UNCW Hampton Inn University Invitational in Wilmington, N.C.. A new season means a new start for the Rams, looking to bounce back from their 13-16 record and below-average 7-11 record in conference play. In terms of conference ranking, they finished seventh out of the 10 teams in the Atlantic 10 last season and have failed to have a top-five finish in the last 10 years.
The program is a work in progress, but there is reason for optimism with younger talent coming through. The team will look to try to replace the four impactful seniors they lost last season in Aneliesa Cartledge, Chloe Pejouan, Aria De La Rosa and Megan Brzozowski. Star senior Mallory Lipski will be returning to the Bronx as a graduate student, which is a big help to a somewhat depleted roster. She will look to continue rising on Fordham’s all-time statistical leaderboards as she is already top five in multiple categories in addition to holding numerous single-season records.
Even with Lipski’s return, the departures of four key seniors and new recruits, like freshman Lorenza Rosenkilde, along with new coaching hires, like assistant coach Chris Sullivan, create somewhat of a new age in Rose Hill for Fordham Volleyball.
They’ll start the year off by taking on the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Presbyterian College and Stetson University. These are very winnable matches, as the teams’ records last season were 6-19, 9-19 and 15-14 respectively. Fordham will look to again start out hot as they did last season, but this time can hopefully keep the momentum going as they look to continue the success into the next few tournaments.
After the UNCW Invitational, they’ll stay local for the Big Apple Tournament where they’ll take on Columbia University and will rematch Quinnipiac University, a team they defeated last season.
Following this, they’ll play in one more tournament at the 2023 Iona Volleyball Tournament before heading home and competing in the Rose Hill Classic and beginning conference play. This will be the toughest test for the Rams, as they have struggled in the past with keeping up with other teams in their conference. However, this year’s squad certainly appears to have all the makings of one that could breakout and finally push Fordham over the edge into a top volleyball program in New York and the A-10.
