Volleyball Splits Final Home Weekend

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Fordham Volleyball honored five seniors (above) before Saturday’s game. (Alex Wolz/The Fordham Ram)

Gigi Speer, Contributing Writer

The Fordham Volleyball team lost to A-10-leading Virginia Commonwealth University on Friday and beat Davidson the next day to split the weekend. The Rams remain two spots out of the playoffs, behind Duquesne and Davidson, who were both beaten by the Rams this season. Interestingly, Fordham’s overall win percentage is higher than both teams, having done better in preseason and non-conference games.

With playoffs still in their grasp, seniors Elise Benjamin, Olivia Fairchild, Kaitlin Morley, Michelle Rodriguez and Morgan Williams were all honored before the match and continued to show their leadership and skill throughout the day.

Benjamin finished with six kills and blocks, Fairchild added five kills and four blocks, Morley had 11 kills and Williams had 37 digs.

The match went to five sets, and the Rams took the fifth with an explosive and nail-biting 15–13 victory.

After an easy victory for the Rams in the first set and a quick loss for them in the second, the hosts surged through the third set, not trailing once. Capitalizing on Wildcat errors and adding in kills and aces of their own, the squad propelled into the fourth set, where they took the first point and went back and forth with the Wildcats, resulting in a 25–23 loss.

In the fifth and final set, the guests took the first point and went ahead on a 7–3 run. A kill by junior outside hitter McKenna Lahr changed the tide for the Rams, as sophomore outside hitter Joey Landeros and freshman middle blocker Aria De La Rosa added in kills of their own.

The squad then went on an 8–1 run to keep the Wildcats to 13 as they lost their composure for the final points and the Ram capitalized to win the match.

Lahr’s 15 kills, two aces and a block led the way offensively for the Rams, and De La Rosa’s 13 kills were a personal best as she chipped in four blocks.

The fate of the Rams’ season will be determined as they head to the Capitol to face George Washington at 7 p.m. on Friday night. With a win and a loss by other top-six teams, Fordham could see its first playoff appearance since 2010.