Jessica Oldenburg was one bright spot with nine kills on .571 hitting |
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49ers Falter on the Road at Fordham
Oct. 14, 2005
Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham Rams scored a 30-22, 30-26, 30-20 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over the Charlotte 49ers in the first-ever meeting between the teams Friday night at Rose Hill Gymnasium.
Fordham hit .418 in the sweep, including .667 in the final game, to improve to 15-8 overall, 3-3 in the Atlantic 10 this season.
Charlotte falls to 11-12 overall, 4-3 in the A-10 with the loss. It was the first time the 49ers had been swept since Sept. 10, a span of 14 matches.
Fordham has to qualify as one of the A-10's biggest surprises this season. The Rams were initially not predicted to be this strong, chosen to finish fourth out of five teams in the East Division. Fordham has already exceeded last season's win total, when the team was 14-16 overall and 6-8 in the conference. It is the first time since 1997 that Fordham has won at least 15 matches.
"We just did not play well tonight," said head coach Lisa Marston. "It was a lack of focus, which is unfortunate. Jessica Oldenburg played well, but we just didn't set her enough. Defensively we were ok through games one and two, but then we could only come up with seven digs in the third game. We just really didn't play together tonight. A difficult one. We've got to get it back together with a travel and practice day (Saturday), and then Rhode Island on Sunday."
Fordham was led by Tasha Johnston, who had 14 kills and just one error (.419 hitting), while recording a match-high 13 digs. Marija Markovic led all players with 15 kills on .529 hitting, adding six block assists.
Charlotte hit just .211 in the match, and was out-blocked 11 to 5. Alma Arroyo had 13 kills but hit just .095. Jessica Oldenburg swung well, with nine kills on .571 hitting, and Lisa Newell had nine kills but was held to .235 hitting. Courtney Cowles led the team with nine digs.
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Fordham won the match by making a series of unanswered runs to take control in each of the three games.
In game one, Charlotte tied the score at 17 apiece but would not lead the rest of the way. Three straight Fordham points prompted a time out, but the Rams extended the lead to 25-20 to force a second time out. Two straight kills put them ahead 27-20 and they closed out the win.
Charlotte led game two, 22-21, but just as in game one, it was a three-point Rams run that prompted a 49ers time out. The 49ers would battle back to tie it at 25-each, but this time a 4-point run would put them away.
The finale was tied at 15-15, but again an unanswered run - this time five points - did Charlotte in. They would get no closer than four points the rest of the way.
This was the first of two meetings between the East Division schools, with the Rams slated to visit Charlotte on Senior Night, Friday, November 4. That will be the final A-10 match for both teams prior to selection of the conference tournament teams.
Thanks to a front-loaded A-10 schedule, Friday night's match was the second-to-last home match of the season for the Rams. They will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday against George Washington, before closing out their season with nine straight road matches.
Meanwhile, the 49ers are at Rhode Island on Sunday. Please note that the match time has been changed to a 1:00 p.m. EST start.
