As part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Atlantic 10 (A-10) Conference in cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball, the Fordham athletic programs are off to a great start. Hoping to follow up on impressive seasons last year, fordham fall sports have been excelling so far.

FOOTBALL

The Fordham football team finished with a 9–3 record in 2015 and was one of the three Fodham teams that reached the NCAA playoffs. As of Nov. 1 the football team’s record is 5-3. The Rams had a record-setting win over Elizabeth City University in the home opener and an impressive victory over The University of Pennsylvania at homecoming. In a 44–37 win over Yale University on Jack Coffey Field, quarterback Kevin Anderson Fordham College Rose Hill, (FCRH ’17) completed 18 of 27 passes for 270 yards and tied his career high with five touchdowns, earning him the Patriot League Player of the Week honor. Junior running back Chase Edmonds, FCRH ’18, regarding this season, said, “It’s going well so far. I believe that it’s important for Fordham to continue the momentum as we get into the hard stretch of the season.” Fordham will face Colgate in a rematch on Nov. 5.

VOLLEYBALL

Last year, the Women’s volleyball team finished the year with a final record of 8–23. Currently, they are 10–16. When asked about how the season is progressing so far, Kristin Ostach, FCRH ’17, stated, “I think we started off very strong at the beginning of conference[-play], with wins over George Washington and George Mason. These wins put us in a good standing amongst the other teams in the A-10, but after two losing weekends we fell to middle the of the pack. Although these losses hurt us, we are still in a great position to make playoffs.” She said that while the team is very good at serving, there is still room for improvement. “Our current focus for improvement is getting kills from all attackers more evenly distributed across the board.” She is very optimistic that her team will make it to postseason. The team’s practice on kills was highlighted by the performance of freshman Olivia Fairchild, FCRH ’20. After recording 57 kills across two matches, including setting a new record for most kills in a three-set match, Fairchild has been named the Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Week. The honor is Fairchild’s third this season.

CROSS-COUNTRY

In men’s cross-country, Brian Cook, FCRH ’18, started off the season on a positive note when he was named the Atlantic-10 Men’s Cross Country Performer of the Week. He won at the Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park last week with a time of 26:12.8, subsequently putting the Rams in fourth place. This is Brian Cook’s third Atlantic-10 Performer of the Week award. This helped lead his team to a second place finish in the event, and at the Coast-To-Coast Battle in Beantown that took place in Boston, Massachusetts, he had a career best time of 24:48, finishing in 14th place over the 8K course.

In women’s cross-country, Fordham won the team championship at the Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park. Individually, the Rams were led by Angelina Grebe, FCRH ‘18, who finished third overall with a time of 19:00.1. At the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown in Boston, Massachusetts, the women were again led by Grebe and her season-best 18:30 time. At the Red Storm Invitational, hosted by St. John’s, the women took second in the 4K. Fordham was once again led by Grebe who finished fifth overall with a time of 14:36.40. Other Rams finishing in the top 10 were Sydney Snow, FCRH ’20, who finished seventh with a time of 14:48.60, Stephanie Leo, FCRH ’18, ninth with a time of 14:49.40 and lastly Cristina Ulto, FCRH ’17, 10th with 14:53.40.

GOLF

To continue. men’s golf recently competed in the Ryan Lee Memorial Tournament hosted by Central Connecticut State University this year, the team came out to a great start. Matthew Schiller, FCRH ‘18, placed in a three-way tie for second. Joseph Trim, FCRH ‘18. came in fifth, only one stroke behind Schiller. The team completed its second tournament of the fall by placing 15th at the Hartford Hawks Invitational at Bull’s Bridge Club. Fordham then placed 12th at the Quechee Club Collegiate Challenge, and finished 11th out of 15 teams. On the weekend of Oct. 21, the men’s golf team traveled down to Lehigh University for the Lehigh Invitational where they placed fifth out of 12 teams.

SOCCER

The men’s soccer team currently has an overall record of 7–5–3. Last year, the soccer team finished off the season with a record of 7–8–4. The team is two years removed from when Head Coach Jim McElderry led the team to the Atlantic-10 Championship for the second time in team history. Fordham had four players who earned All-Atlantic-10 honors, including Janos Loebe, FCRH ’19, Jannik Loebe, FCRH ’18, Matthew Lewis, FCRH ‘18 and Rashid Nuhu, FCRH ‘19. This year has been an up-and-down season but has been highlighted by a 1–0 win over La Salle, which was also a milestone for Coach McElderry as it was the 100th coaching win of his career at Fordham.

The women’s soccer team finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 13–7–2. This year, their current record is 10–4–5. Entering her third year at Fordham, head coach Jessica Clinton has put the Rams in the title match for the third straight year. Last year, the team was 10th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings. This year’s team finds itself in the playoff hunt, sitting in sixth place in the Atlantic-10 standings (10-4-5, 5-1-4 A-10) and boasts one of the top-ranked defenses in the Atlantic-10 conference. Senior Brianna Blunck, FCRH ’17, said, “The season is moving so quickly. I can’t believe that tomorrow is my last home game as a Fordham athlete. We’ve been working so hard to put ourselves in a good place as we look ahead to the A-10 playoffs. Hopefully we’ll have a few minor details click just in time for the final games of the conference. Our next three games are huge for us and we have big expectations…!”

WATER POLO

In men’s water polo, during the first week of competition, goalkeeper Alex Jahns, FCRH ’18, was named co-Defensive Player of the Week. Jahns and the Rams started off the year with a 2–1 record, beating Johns Hopkins and Navy. This was Fordham’s first win against Navy. As the season has progressed, the Rams water polo team currently has a 13-11 record after losing to George Washington, but defeating Navy once again in a thrilling rematch. Fordham has thus far, had victories against La Verne, California Institue of Technology, Johns Hopkins, Iona and Mercyhurst.

TENNIS

Last year, the Women’s Tennis team finished off the year with an impressive 12–7 record, under Coach Betty-Ann Speliotis Liguori, and made it to the Atlantic-10 semifinals for the first time in team history. The women’s tennis team opened this season by participating at the 2016 Quinnipiac Women’s Invitational where Mayu Sato, FCRH ’17, advanced to the championship at B-Singles and Gianna Insogna, FCRH ’19, won the C-Singles consolation. The team continued by participating at the West Point Invitational where Insogna won the C-singles and Destiny Grunin, FCRH ’17, advanced to the championship in the D-singles. In the next tournament, the team competed in the Lehigh Invitational, where Estelle Wong, FCRH ’18, won the 2nd singles, Insogna won the 2nd singles and Grunin won the 4th singles.

Last year, the men’s tennis team finished with a 14–7 record. This season just started, however they have started 2–0, and earned their second win on Oct. 12, when they beat Rider University with a score of 6–1. The team also earned the doubles point to further solidify their win.