Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament – First Round
Score: #3 VCU 3, #6 Fordham 2 (24-26, 25-16, 25-22, 21-25, 15-11)
Location: Davidson, N.C. (Belk Arena)
Records: VCU 17-12, Fordham 17-12
 
The short story: VCU's All-Conference duo of senior Jasmine Knight and freshman Anja Kujundzic heard Head Coach Tim Doyle's call to action -- and answered emphatically Friday night. Each turned in a career-best performance to help lift the Black and Gold past Fordham 3-2 and into the Atlantic 10 Conference semifinals at Davidson's Belk Arena.
 
OPENING VOLLEY

• Kujundzic, VCU's Second Team All-Conference libero, rang up 39 digs in the match – an Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament record, and the most by a Black and Gold player since 2004
• Knight, who was named All-Atlantic 10 Conference First Team on Thursday, blasted a career-high 21 kills Friday and hit .378 on 37 attempts. She added five blocks in the contest
• Not to be outdone, junior outside hitter Kialah Jefferson spiked 21 kills and dug 20 balls for her first 20-20 effort of the 2023 season
• Fordham's Whitley Moody led all players with 23 kills 

THE DIFFERENCE

• Knight supplied a block and a kill early in the fifth-set tiebreaker to help VCU storm to a 9-3 lead. The Black and Gold would never trail in the stanza on the way to a 15-11 win. She later added a match-clinching kill with a right-handed slam on the final play of the night.
• Jefferson registered three kills in the fifth, while VCU held Fordham to just six kills and a .083 hitting percentage in the set
• VCU hit .203 in the match, compared to Fordham's .149 mark. The Black and Gold dug 99 balls in the contest, 13 more than their opponent
• Kujundzic's activity on the back row frustrated Fordham all evening. She chalked up 12 digs in the first set alone and delivered five critical digs in the fifth-set tiebreaker

NOTABLE

• VCU will advance to the A-10 semifinals for the 10^th time in 12 seasons since it joined the league prior to the 2012 campaign
• Kujundzic's 39 digs are tied for the most by a Ram since Griselle Lopez Pereira registered 39 against James Madison on Oct. 22, 2004, and are the most since Lopez Pereira set a program record with 50 digs on this same court against Davidson on Sept. 3, 2004. Kujundzic shattered the previous A-10 Tournament single-match mark of 34 digs, set by Maura Collins of Dayton in 2019
• With 21 kills Friday, Knight moved within 10 of joining VCU's 1,000-kill club. She now sits 10^th all-time in school history with 990 kills
• Kujundzic leapfrogged into eighth in VCU single-season history with 547 digs following Friday's effort. That's also the most-ever by a VCU freshman

NEXT UP
Third-seeded VCU will meet second-seeded and defending A-10 Champion Loyola Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 3:30 p.m. at Belk Arena. That match will be streamed live on ESPN+.