The Rams traveled to the first place Flyers (17-5 and 5-1 in conference) on Friday, Oct. 17, looking to improve to 2-4 in conference and 2-18 on the season. The first set was knotted at eight, but Dayton scored the next three points to go up 11-8. The Rams brought themselves back within one but could not retie the score, as Dayton went on to win 25-18. The Flyers maintained momentum in the second set, scoring eight of the first nine points in the set and taking a 2-0 set lead in the game after a 25-10 set victory.
The third set featured more Flyer dominance, as they opened the set scoring 12 of the first 14 points and winning the game 25-8, sweeping Fordham. Junior Brianna O’Neil and graduate student Lisa Hipp led the Rams with five kills each, junior Abigail Konovodoff had 11 assists and freshmen Grace Muller and Emily Fronk each had five digs.
The Rams’ next A-10 test was not much easier, as they took on the 17-6 (6-2) St. Louis Billikens. The score was knotted at five in the first set, but a 15-7 run by St. Louis allowed them to pull away and take the set 25-16. The second set began at six-all, but the Billikens once again pulled away, going on a 15-6 run and taking the second set 25-15.
The third set was also tightly contested at 14-13 in favor of the Billikens. St. Louis scored three points in a row, Fordham responded with three points of its own and the Billikens countered with another three straight points to go up to 20-16. St. Louis finished off the set with five of the last nine points, defeating the Rams 25-20 and completing the three-set sweep. O’Neil led the Rams with nine kills, Konovodoff added another 27 assists to her team lead and junior Brennan Delsing had 15 digs.
The loss dropped the Rams to 1-20 on the season and 1-6 in the A-10. Fordham returns home to the Rose Hill Gym this week to play two conference games. It’s first game is with the newest addition to the A-10, Davidson, on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. The Rams will then play VCU on Sunday, Oct. 26, at 1 p.m.
