In only their second and third games played at home this season, the Fordham volleyball team found themselves with both a win and a loss by the end of the weekend. On Friday, Sept. 27, the team lost to the University of Rhode Island Rams by a score of 3-0 after Rhode Island dominated each set. The following day, on Sept. 28, Fordham faced an easier opponent, the George Mason University Patriots, and it was Fordham’s time to rule the court. They walked away with a 3-1 win over George Mason.

Friday night’s game against Rhode Island featured a theme where Fordham constantly allowed the Rhode Island Rams to go on high-scoring run. At the beginning of the opening set, Fordham quickly took the lead, 5-4. But from then on, Rhode Island went on a tear. Rhode Island went on  a 11-3 run and put themselves ahead of Fordham by 10 points, 21-11. Fordham tried to catch up with a 4-2 run, but eventually Rhode Island won the first set 25-15.

In the second set, Fordham took the lead yet again, this time by a score of 9-5. But Rhode Island came back. The Rhode Island Rams scored another 20 points to take the set with a final score of 25-16. For the Fordham Rams, Brennen Desling, Fordham College at Rose Hill, (FCRH) ’16, had a pair of kills and Maria Rodenberg, FCRH ’14, had consecutive aces.

The third set went as the first two did, with Fordham trying to maintain a lead before Rhode Island ripped it away. Fordham led Rhode Island 8-6, until Rhode Island went on an 11-3 run. The Rams tried but had trouble hanging onto the 19-9 lead that Rhode Island built up. Rhode Island went on to win that set 25-14. With three set wins, the Rhode Island Rams won the entire match. Lisa Hipp, FCRH ’14, led the team with seven kills. Carina Thompson, FCRH ’14, added six kills and hit .375 for the match.

Although they took a disappointing loss against Rhode Island on Friday, the team wasted no time the next day against George Mason University. The night before did not stop the girls from keeping focus in this home court advantage.

Despite the lead from George Mason in the opening set, with the Patriots taking nine of the match’s first 14 points, the Rams fought back. From that point on, Fordham and George Mason went back and forth until both teams were tied at 19 points. Despite the persistence and trading points, the Patriots took the lead for the first set, 25-21. But that didn’t stop the Rams as they swiftly fought back in the second set, with Hipp recording three kills to put Fordham in a 3-1 lead. They also took advantage of the Patriots’ error that extended the lead to 11-6. The Patriots attempted to bridge the gap to 16-14, but the Rams were determined to win, closing the set at 25-22.

The game came very close in the third set, with neither team holding a lead of more than two points for a majority of the set. George Mason attempted to take the lead, scoring 22-20, but the Rams once again fought back and tied the score. Carina Thompson, FCRH ’14, and Brianna O’Neil, FCRH ’16, both had kills and Rodenberg tallied an ace to give Fordham the win by 25-22.

The Rams came determined in the fourth set and brought the heat. They immediately pushed for a six point lead in the beginning, forcing the Patriots to take a time out. Later on, The Rams widened the gap even more with a 11-3 lead, forcing George Mason to take another timeout. After the second timeout, the Patriots tried to catch up, closing within two at 15-13. Nevertheless, the Rams began to widen the gap again with Hipp’s 22nd kill of the game. The Rams increased the advantage to five at 18-13, but the Patriots pushed to get back into the set.  Despite George Mason narrowing the lead to one on a few occasions, Fordham closed out the set, 25-22 and took the win of the match.

Hipp came close to her career-high with 25 kills and also tallied in 13 digs. Sarah Konkel, FCRH ’14, had 55 assists and 13 opposing attacks. Thompson had 13 kills, while Lindsay Ritchie, FCRH ’15 added 12 kills, a career high. O’Neil pitched in 11 kills for the win.

The win against George Mason was the first Atlantic 10 victory for the team’s new head coach, Gini Ullery. The Rams’ next game will be at home on Oct. 5, at 7:00 p.m. It will be Ullery’s first game against her previous team at Duquesne University.