ANDREW RICHARDSON
Special to The Leader
After starting the New York State Challenge with a 2-0 record on Friday, the Fredonia women’s volleyball team proceeded to lose 0-3 against New York University and then later in the day fall 0-3 to Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT).
The first game was much closer than the final score reflects. Fredonia played most areas of the game well. One area, however, killed the team in its style of play: blocks. The Blue Devils didn’t register any blocks in the three-set match.
Just coming off of a bad loss, the Blue Devils managed to keep the game against SIT close until the very end.
“We displayed a passionate performance in our final SUNYAC match, and I’ll be anxious to see if it carries over into the playoffs,” said Fredonia Assistant Coach Jon-Ryan Maloney.
A team willing to keep fighting — despite the feeling of fatigue and mental wear of losing both double-headers — is a team worth keeping an eye on late in the season, and that is exactly what Fredonia is.
“We have battled through so much adversity during this season and we have finally become the strongest team I have ever played on,” said sophomore outside hitter Kristen Stanek.
Regardless of the two losses, the Blue Devils had nothing but positive feedback when looking towards playoffs.
Jane Garrity, a sophomore middle blocker, said “Winning SUNYACs this year means everything to me. This is the best team I’ve ever been on, and this is the best chance I’ll have at NCAAs.”
Despite the end-of-the-season losses, these girls still have a very high morale heading into the playoffs.
“Our four seniors have all lost in either the SUNYAC semi-finals or finals for three years now, so they can provide some extra perspective to younger players who haven’t been here yet,” said Maloney.
Before this weekend the Blue Devils looked solid. The team was boasting a 22-9 record and cruising on a five-game win streak. According to Garrity this is the Fredonia team to expect in the playoffs, not the team that lost both games over the weekend.
“We had two important players get hurt on Friday, so they were not able to play on Saturday. They now have this next week to regain health before SUNYACs on Friday,” said Garrity.
Sitting at the No. 6 seed heading into the SUNYAC playoffs, a championship title run is a strong possibility for this squad. Considering the high moral, the outstanding 18-6 SUNYAC record and a healthy unit, Fredonia’s deadly underdog status could strike next week.