CURTIS HENRY
Special to The Leader
The Lady Blue Devils began the weekend on a five game win streak, starting September 16th with a win against Medaille College. It was all part of the annual Blue Devil Invitational.
They began their four game weekend slate on Saturday with a win over the Pitt-Bradford Panthers by a score of three sets to none. The decisive victory was led by juniors Kelly Edinger and Paulina Rein, where Edinger was both the offensive and defensive star for the Blue Devils at 30 assists and with 14 digs. Rein added 10 digs of her own and posted a .353 hit percentage. The final scoreline for each of the sets was 25-14, 25-11 and 25-17 as the ladies from Fredonia made quick work of the Panthers.
Saturday’s second match was again a 3-0 victory for the Blue Devils, this time coming against Hilbert College. Edinger again led the team in assists, this time with 34. Defensively, Fredonia’s strong point was junior Lauren Hokaj, who led the time with an outstanding 21 digs. The victory was never in doubt as Fredonia won the three sets consecutively and convincingly by scorelines of 25-16, 25-11 and 25-21. At the end of the day, the win streak was still intact and the Blue Devils’ record had improved to 13-6.
However, day two of the invitational didn’t go exactly as planned.
Fredonia began the day with a matchup against Frostburg State. A hard-fought match once again resulted in a 3-0 win for the ladies, but it wasn’t nearly as convincing a victory as the two games prior. The dominance that was on display wasn’t quite there against a well-equipped Frostburg team. The three sets were won by a combined 9 points and by scores of 25-20, 26-24 and 25-22. Junior Jessica DiChristopher and Sophomore Megan Collins led the team with 10 kills each, while Hokaj once again led the team defensively with 18 digs.
RIT was the final opponent for the Devils in what they hoped would be a four game weekend sweep. However, RIT provided difficulties unseen by the Fredonia squad up to that point of the weekend. RIT won the first two sets narrowly by scores of 25-21 and 26-24. Fredonia mounted quite the rally in the third set to win it 25-22, but it was too little too late. They fell in the fourth set by a score of 25-21 as RIT, led by 2013 All-American Sarah Szybist, proved to be too much.
Fredonia’s winning streak of eight games became part of the past with the loss to RIT. Their current record stands at a respectable 14-7. Fredonia looks to get back on track in the next week with a game against Penn-St. Behrend in Erie on the 7th. They head to Cortland this weekend for SUNYAC competition against Oneonta, Cortland and Potsdam.