Volleyball 4-3 After Losing Three in Maryland

The first weeks of the Fordham volleyball season should be considered a success for the Lady Rams. At 4-3, and with wins over such powerful opponents as Boston College and Northeastern, Fordham has shown that preseason prognostications which had the Lady Rams finishing at the bottom of the Atlantic 10 could be off base.

Fordham swept its four matches at the Beanpot Classic in Massachusetts and even in their three losses in the Arundel Mills Maryland Invite at College Park, Md., the Lady Rams were able to challenge tough opponents such as Georgetown and Bradley.

With stalwarts like senior outside hitter Jenna Hart and senior middle hitter Katie Wells taking charge, and emerging talents like freshman server Sara Konkel already having a big impact early in their athletic careers at Rose Hill, Fordham may have the talent to be successful in its non-conference schedule and to set themselves up for a strong A-10 performance.

Fordham began the season with a pair of wins over Boston schools Northeastern and Boston College at the Beanpot Classic in Worcester, Mass., on August 27. The Lady Rams defeated Northeastern in a 3-2 match before sweeping BC.

Fordham outlasted the Huskies in its first match at the Classic, with each of the five set scores being extremely close. Final set scores were 25-22, 25-20, 24-26, 25-27 and 15-12. Key to the Lady Rams' victory was their accuracy and efficiency in attacking their opponents. Fordham outhit Northeastern by a percentage of .205 to .163 and caused the Huskies to commit 36 errors compared the Fordham total of 29. Fordham took the opening set 25-22, as Northeastern committed 11 attack errors, and used a 13-3 run midway through the second set to win by a 25-20 count and go up two sets to none.

The Huskies were able to win both sets 3 and 4 to knot up the match. The final set was a microcosm of the efficiency that allowed Fordham to outlast the Huskies. With a 12-10 advantage, Fordham rallied for five consecutive points to take the match. Four of the points came as a result of Northeastern attack errors.

For the Lady Rams, junior outside hitter Brittany Daulton had her first career double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs while senior middle hitter ChrIsti Griffiths recorded a .562 hitting percentage, the second-highest for a five-set match in Fordham history.

In the nightcap, the Lady Rams briskly dispatched Boston College in three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-13. Fordham held an advantage over the Eagles for the entire first set and rallied from a two-point deficit in the second set by taking the final five points. Seemingly demoralized, BC consceded a 9-1 lead to the Lady Rams in the opening minutes of the third set and Fordham never looked back, winning the set 25-13 and sweeping a match from an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, a major accomplishment.

Two freshmen led the way for the Lady Rams against the Eagles. Konkel dished out 32 assists and five digs while libero Emily Atwood recorded 14 assists on the defensive end. Fordham's talent up and down its lineup was visible in the team totals, as the Lady Rams had 39 kills and a percentage of .194 to BC's 28 and .103.

"Our performance against Boston College was outstanding," Head Coach Ken Volkert said. "Beating an ACC team soundly is a major step forward for our program." 

On Aug. 28, Fordham captured the 2010 Beanpot Classic by defeating Holy Cross and Quinnipiac, starting 4-0 for the first time in team history. The Lady Rams swept Holy Cross in their opening match of the day before prevailing over Quinnipiac in four sets.

Fordham ended up defeating the Crusaders decisively in each set by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20. The Lady Rams hit .379 as a group in the first set as Hart and May each had five kills. Set 2 was close at 21-20, before Holy Cross committed three errors over the final five points. Fordham never looked back in the third set, leading by as many as 13 points.

May recorded 11 kills and a .526 hitting percentage against the Crusaders. The Lady Rams were particularly outstanding on the defensive end, as they recorded 54 blocks to only 39 for Holy Cross. 

The Lady Rams then prevailed in four sets against Quinnipiac and started off 4-0 for the first time in team history. The match's set scores were 25-23, 16-25, 27-25 and 25-19. Fordham largely won the match due to the pressure they put on the Bobcats. Quinnipiac committed 23 service errors in the match to the Lady Rams' six.

The upper hand swung back and forth in the first two sets, with Fordham taking the final four points of the first set for an initial lead before Quinnipiac evened the match in Set 2 with a 25-16 victory, hitting .478 as a team. It was Set 3 where the Lady Rams exhibited both their control over the match and the composure they had shown during the whole tournament against a challenging field. The set saw eight lead changes and ended with kills from Konkel and Daulton that allowed the Lady Rams to capture the set by a score of 27-25. The fourth set served as a victory lap for Fordham for the entire tournament as the Lady Rams cruised to a 25-19 victory and a four-set match win.

"I was really happy to see how quickly my freshmen stepped up," Volkert said. "They meshed well with their teammates and it was important to see how well a job they did in leading both the offense and defense. Our team will be strong as long as everyone, from our freshmen to our six seniors, knows their role." 

 Griffiths deservingly earned Beanpot Classic tournament MVP honors for Fordham. She recorded a .485 hitting percentage and had 38 kills and 14 total blocks in the team's four matches. Konkel made just about the best impression one can imagine for a freshman playing in her first few games, earning an All-Tournament spot by averaging 10.1 assists and 2.21 digs per set.