It’s been an arduous season for the Fordham University volleyball team, who played well enough to have beaten any Atlantic 10 team last weekend, except the one they actually played.
The Rams, who started their A-10 slate 0-5, have improved markedly over the past two weeks. Their reward? A matchup with one of the most dominant teams the conference has ever seen.
The Dayton University Flyers, ranked 20th in the entire nation, flew east to Rose Hill to continue their tour of dominance. This tour had some memorable national performances in the non-conference portion of play, including wins over a phenomenal Northern Illinois University team and a Big 10 opponent in Illinois University.
The A-10 leg of the tour? A parade of demoralization, in which Dayton has walked into the homes of opponents and swept almost everybody — in 11 matches, the Flyers have dropped one singular set. One.
Fordham nearly made it two on a couple of occasions last weekend. There are, of course, no moral victories, though. Fordham lost via the sweep twice, moving to 2-9 in A-10 matches, good for sole possession of last place.
That said, as the maroon and white laced their shoes, stood for the anthem and took the court last Friday, Oct. 25, you wouldn’t have guessed that the six players were across the net from one of the nation’s best lineups. The Rams came into play with an abundance of energy, and whether exerted on the court or the sidelines, their energy willed them into contention with the formidable Flyers.
Junior Zoe Talabong got things started with an ace on the match’s first point, causing an exaltation from the bench. After Dayton tied things up at one, one of the night’s longest rallies ensued. As most players grew tired, graduate student Whitley Moody looked fresh as ever as she sprung above the net to hammer home the point. The bench roared along with a decent-sized crowd composed of student-athletes from various other Fordham teams. With that same vivacity, Fordham continued its valiant effort. After 16 points, the match sat knotted at eight.
From there, Dayton began to show why it’s ranked among the country’s best. Their attackers, headlined by soon-to-be back-to-back A-10 Player of the Year Lexie Almodovar, flaunted veteran-savvy technique and shot placement above the net. Still, Fordham found a way to rally. Kills from sophomore Lorenza Rosenkile and junior Audrey Brown helped lift the Rams out of an 18-12 deficit, with freshman Sophia Kuyn dunking a Dayton overpass to opposing hardwood to make it 20-16. The bench erratically waved their pink pom-poms — part of the team’s breast cancer awareness theme for the weekend — their palpable energy making Dayton look human for the first time since a Sept. 14 loss to Marquette University. The Flyers turned it on from there, however, snapping into form for a 25-17 victory.
In the second set, Fordham put together the strong forty-or-so rallies of its season, putting the Flyers on the defensive. Rosenkilde led the charge, nailing four kills and a solo block in the set. After netting two consecutive points, Rosenkilde had the Rams firmly in control, 9-4. For an encore, senior libero Ryan Naumann earned Fordham its 10th point with a diving save, perpetuating the match’s longest rally, one which culminated in a powerful Brown kill. Their 6-point lead resembled their largest of the night. Almost robotically, Dayton seemed to literally flip a switch, going on a massive run to bring the set from 14-8 to 14-12. Fordham didn’t let up, though, hanging on to a 1- or 2-point lead for a while longer. Dayton eventually caught Fordham at 19, proceeding to zoom forward to a 25-21 win.
Set three was less enticing.
What was perhaps most terrifying about Dayton’s third set annihilation was the body language of its bench players. After each point, there were sparing claps and, perhaps, a smile or two from the sidelines. It was a far cry from the coordinated celebrations and cacophonous cheering of the Fordham bench that each Rams point invoked. It’s as if winning is routine for the Flyers, and that getting a point off a rally is to be expected, not celebrated. As though cheering for one’s team implies an inkling of belief that anything contrary to victory is possible.
The Flyers mildly clapped after each point of a 25-8 rout, setting their sights on the fresh slate Saturday represented. Despite the loss, Naumann stood out as the true catalyst for the Rams’ impressive fight. She racked up 15 digs on the day, many of which being off of rocket-speed Dayton attacks. Kuyn starred up front, too, finishing with a pair of kills and a mammoth six blocks.
Seventeen hours later, the two teams lined up for round two. This time, the Rams were less successful in stemming the tide that is Flyers volleyball.
Fordham played cleanly once more but were simply outmatched by Dayton’s stellar front row. It was another Flyer sweep, 25-17, 25-18, 25-17, by day’s end. In sets two and three, Fordham kept the Flyers on their toes, with each frame sitting at 8-10, Dayton, at 1 point. That 2-point gap was as close as things would get, with the indomitable Dayton attack powering its way to victory. Talabong and Moody steadied the offense with 10 kills apiece. Moody tacked on 16 digs for a double-double, while Naumann continued her prolific play with 10 receptions.
The muted Saturday outing raised concern about a season-long pattern: in two-match stints this year, Fordham is 2-3 on day one; on day two, they’re 0-5. Whether it’s fatigue, contentedness after solid day-one outings, or something else, the Rams will look to stymie that trend as the season takes its final turn.
Let’s revisit the A-10 playoff race. Incredibly, Fordham’s 2-9 record puts them… just two games out of playoff position? With six teams making the playoffs, a winning record is not necessary. Instead, a Rams hot streak could quickly rewrite the story of this season. The bleak reality, however, is that Fordham played its worst volleyball against its worst opponents, losing winnable games. Subsequently, Fordham, just now gaining traction and stringing together strong outings, has no margin for error as it enters its toughest in-conference stretch.
A look at their upcoming schedule shows a path — however unlikely — to that sixth spot. They’ll first have to beat a University of Rhode Island squad that swept them a few weeks ago — luckily, their last meeting marked Fordham’s worst performance of the season, and their fellow Rams are a measly 3-8 for the year. They’ll then ship off to Davidson College, Loyola University Chicago and back home to play Virginia Commonwealth University in three straight weeks of two-match stints.
These six games, their final of the season, will dictate whether or not the group flies to Dayton, Ohio, for the A-10 Tournament. Unfortunately, their three foes have cemented themselves as the second, third and fourth-best teams in the conference. Should they find a way to beat URI and win three of these last six matches, they’ll finish at 6-12. That wouldn’t guarantee the sixth spot, but it would give these Rams a fighting chance.
In order to give themselves that chance, Fordham will have to bring the same tenacity and energy it brought against Dayton. Should they do so, what has been a story of twists and turns may write one last improbable chapter.
