ANTHONY GETTINO
Sports Editor
This past week saw a return to action for our Blue Devils participating in fall sports. After the lengthy time off due to COVID-19, this is the first time these teams have competed since 2019.
Men and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s tennis, and men and women’s cross country each had competition begin.
For the men’s soccer team, they split their two games with each having the score of 1-0.
In the first game, it was Kevin Loftus with a penalty kick in overtime to start the season out with a win over Penn State Behrend.
In their Saturday showing, Fredonia traveled to Case Western, where the team lost 0-1 in double overtime.
The Blue Devils will be host to the Blue Devil Classic this Friday and Saturday at University Stadium and play Mount Saint Mary College as well as Houghton.
As for the women’s soccer team, they have still not lost a game.
They began the season with a 2-2 tie with Alfred at home, with goals by Katie Sellers and Brianna Grazen. The team then traveled to the Herb Lauffer Memorial Tournament, where they defeated Wooster in 1-0 fashion behind Gabrielle Alston’s first half goal.
This week also sees these Blue Devils as hosts of the Blue Devil Classic where they will play Pitt-Bradford and Utica College.
Women’s volleyball also got the job done this past week at the Cortland Red Dragon Classic, taking two of the three games they played over the weekend.
In the first game of the season, the Blue Devils defeated Utica three sets to one with Emily Jones and Christine Ackendorf leading the way in kills in the match.
The second game of the night resulted in a close loss to Arcadia. The team won the first two sets of the match, but were unable to keep the momentum going, falling 2-3.
The team was able to regroup Saturday, beating St. Lawrence 3-1.
The volleyball team will have four matches this weekend, facing off against Westminster, Baldwin Wallace, Bluffton and John Carroll at the Penn State Behrend Invitational.
Women’s tennis had just one match this past week, where the team fell 2-7 to D’Youville College.
Scoring for the Blue Devils were Emma Nortey and Dominique Martello in the doubles and Martello again in a singles match.
The team will face off against Oswego on Friday and Cortland on Saturday, with both matches being played at home.
Finally, both the men’s and the women’s cross country teams competed in the Fredonia State Invitational.
Both teams placed third overall in their races.
For the men, Anthony Ruiz placed seventh overall in the race and Josh Walters 15th.
On the women’s side, Ally Battaglia placed fifth in the race, Netasha McIntosh seventh and Vanessa Ryhal 12th, respectively.
Both teams have this week off before the travel to the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Rochester.
