MATT VOLZ
Special to The Leader
Women’s tennis concludes tough season
Fredonia State’s women’s tennis team saw their 2022 season come to an end with a 7-2 loss to Plattsburgh State on Saturday, Oct. 8. With the loss, the Blue Devils dropped to 0-12, ending their campaign without a win.
In the match against the Plattsburgh State Cardinals, the Blue Devils saw their top doubles pair, Bella Surma and Caitlin Snyder, come away with an 8-6 win in a first-to-eight pro set. Snyder also played 2nd singles and came away with a hard-fought win (6-2, 3-6, 10-8).
Both Snyder and Surma are concluding their senior seasons, so the Blue Devils will have to lean on their young players and recruit well heading into 2023. Fortunately, much of the team is young, and freshmen such as Brianna Gentile, Sierra Allen and Lexi Hawley provided significant contributions to the squad in 2022. It can be hard to find positives coming out of a winless season, but for this women’s tennis program, there’s nowhere to go but up.
Volleyball shut out on the road
The Blue Devils were unable to win a set in either of their road contests this past weekend, falling 0-3 to both SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta. In their matchup against SUNY New Paltz on Oct. 14, Fredonia State was able to hang tight with their opponents before falling in each set (25-19, 25-17, 25-17).
Amaya Lewczyk led the Blue Devils in kills with 7, while Kourtney Krchniak tallied 22 assists and Gabrielle Sordetto led the team in digs with 10.
On Oct. 15 against SUNY Oneonta, the Blue Devils had a rather slow start, dropping the first set 25-8. The second set was a nailbiter, with Oneonta taking it 25-20 as well as the third set 25-11. Freshman Gabrielle Chilcott led Fredonia State in kills with 7, as Krchniak came up with 17 assists and Kailea Sullivan led the team with 7 digs.
At 4-16, the Blue Devils have four games remaining on the schedule, with all of them at home and two of them coming up this weekend.
Their next game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. against SUNY Brockport in the Dods Hall Gymnasium. The Blue Devils will also be in action on Saturday, Oct. 22 for a 1 p.m. home contest against SUNY Geneseo, also in the Dods Hall Gymnasium.
Men’s XC finishes top 20
At the Rowan Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15, the Blue Devils were able to finish in 19th place out of 36 teams. Junior Josh Walters was Fredonia State’s top finisher, coming in 80th place out of 306 runners with a time of 26:31. Fellow junior Sembel Koshi was right behind Walters, coming in 84th place with a time of 26:35.
Also scoring for Fredonia State were: Kyle Campbell (105th, 26:52), Patrick Kilnger (111th, 26:58) and Ted Tomasello (119th, 27:05).
The Blue Devils will be off next week to prepare for the SUNYAC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 29th in Oswego, NY.
Women’s XC impresses at Rowan
Competing against six other teams at the Rowan Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15, the Blue Devils took home a 4th place finish.
Sophomore Alexandra Battaglia won the 8K race, beating out 86 other competitors with a time of 23:55. Junior Vanessa Ryhal was Fredonia State’s second finisher, coming in 17th place with a time of 26:09.5. Finishing just 0.4 seconds behind her was the Blue Devils’ third finisher, junior Elizabeth Gloss, whose 18th place finish gave her a time of 26:09.9.
Senior Kristin Kelemen, a graduate of nearby Maple Grove High School, came in 43rd place with a time of 27:22. Fredonia State’s fifth finisher, freshman Erin Cool, finished in 70th place with a time of 29:09. Saturday was the third time all season that the Blue Devils were able to field the necessary five runners to score as a team, and they rewarded head coach Tom Wilson with a top-5 finish.
Like the men’s team, the women’s cross country team will be off next week as they prepare for the SUNYAC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Oswego, NY.
Women’s soccer falls to Plattsburgh
Fredonia State’s women’s soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 15. The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 2-7-4 on the season and 0-5-2 in SUNYAC play.
The Blue Devils are still searching for their first conference win of the season as well as their first win since Sept. 13. In the eight games since the team beat Allegheny College on that Tuesday night, they have recorded five losses and three ties, with most of the losses coming in close, nailbiter fashion.
Leading scorer Bri Grazen will look to get the Blue Devils out of their current funk in their last few games. With three games remaining in the regular season, Fredonia State has a chance to get a couple wins and pull closer before the SUNYAC Championships begin.
Their next contest is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 19 against the Lakers of SUNY Oswego, 3 p.m. at University Stadium.
Men’s soccer picks up big win
On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Fredonia State men’s soccer team defeated SUNY Plattsburgh 3-2 in Plattsburgh. Markus Johansson scored the Blue Devils’ first goal and his first of the season early in the second half.
With just a handful of minutes remaining, Kaleb Steward picked up his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at 2 before defender Robert Aboagye scored the winner with less than three minutes remaining. With the win, the Blue Devils improved to 3-8-3 on the season and 2-4-2 in SUNYAC play.
Fredonia State has two games remaining before the SUNYAC Playoffs begin, the next of which is slated for Saturday, Oct. 22 at noon against SUNY Oneonta in Oneonta. The Blue Devils will finish the regular season at home on Tuesday, Oct. 25 against Alfred University, 7 p.m. at University Stadium.