PHILADELPHIA- The La Salle volleyball team grabbed its first conference win of the season on Sunday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena in an exciting five set match against Fordham. The Explorers edged the Rams 3-2 with scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-11.

With five tight matches, La Salle was able to maintain confidence when they fell behind and crawled back to even the scores throughout the sets. The Explorers fought a back and forth battle in set one, with the lead changing six times in the course of the 25-23 set. After dropping the second set, La Salle controlled the majority of set three to capture another set 25-22.  When the Rams jumped ahead by two points in the crucial fifth set, La Salle fought back to recover and jumped ahead by two and remained in charge to win the match.

"The team overcame a huge hurdle today, not only by winning a 5^th set in a conference match, but by garnering our first A10 win this season," said head coach Caitlin Schweihofer. "I am proud of the way this team continues to preserve and work hard not only on the weekends but all week in practice as well. This afternoon showed that as our young team gains experience, we will continue to make strides in conference."

With Katie Wood keeping La Salle's offense in rhythm, the Explorers averaged a .222 attack percentage, in comparison to Fordham's .176 percentage. Devin Corah recorded 18 kills, while Jenny Edwards tallied 14 for La Salle.

Corah also posted four aces, Wood tallied two, and Catherine Edgington posted one. Wood also recorded 44 assists to allow the Explorers to maintain a strong offensive presence.

"Katie Wood delivered a solid performance by keeping our offense balanced and at tempo," said Schweihofer. "She put our hitters in good positions and made great setting decisions. All three of our pin attackers, Davis, Edwards, and Corah were finding ways to score and win long rallies."
 
Jensen Sharrits recorded 27 digs and Edwards recorded nine for the Explorers.

The Explorers led the game defensively, with seven blocks for the Blue and Gold compared to Fordham's four. Edwards and Edgington tallied four blocks apiece, while Maya Barton made her season debut with two blocks.

"I am so proud of Maya Barton for stepping in to a role that she hasn't played all season," said Schweihofer. "Although the stat sheet might not show it, she played the position with extreme poise, and was able to help us contain Fordham's offensive weapon, Fairchild, at critical times."

La Salle will return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 18, when the team travels to Delaware State for a non-conference match at 6:00 PM.