2-1 SUNYAC POOL PLAY

Manning and Olson block
like rabid animals

The 2012 conference play began over the weekend and Fredonia played three matches at Geneseo.  Friday night Oswego was our opponent. Oswego has been a continually improving team in recent years, but our Blue Devils prevailed in three sets, 25-18, 25-20, and 25-8. Hannah Manning did a great job displaying her versatility in the middle, coming away with five blocks and six kills.  Paulina Rein also had a strong match adding six kills and eight digs.

After a restful night at our hotel and a good breakfast, we came back to the gym focused and ready to take on our final two opponents. Our first match was against the Golden Eagles of Brockport and our girls won a decisive match in three sets, 25-15, 25-14, and 25-6. Hannah and Lindsey Olson led our team offensively with eight kills each with Lindsey chipping in seven digs. Meredith Smietana had a strong morning defensively as she registered six blocks. Kelly Edinger continued doing a great job feeding our hitters and running our offense, adding 21 assists.

While our team was having great success so far in pool play, Buff State was also rolling out victories against both Brockport and Oswego. Our final match would be between two undefeated teams in the conference. Everyone in the gym could feel the change in energy when these two talented teams met. We dropped the first set 21-25, but won the second set 25-20. Our serving was very tough and it kept our opponent off balance most of the match. Defensively, it became clear that Lauren Hokaj is a  force for us as she was all over the floor getting balls up. In the third set our team started strong but some strong hitters on the other side of the net did a great job offensively towards the end. We lost the third set 22-25. Several unforced errors would be our downfall in the fourth set as Buff St. won 16-25 to take the match. Hannah and Linds led our attacking with 11 and 16 kills respectively. It was very nice to have Jess DiChristopher back after she'd been out with a leg injury as she provides us with another force in the middle. Hokaj had 19 digs, and Kelly had 34 assists.

After our first experience playing conference opponents, we can see how much we've improved from the start of the season, but we also see how far we need to come. Our girls are dedicated to getting better every day and it's beginning to show on the scoreboard. We have a match against Medaille next week and then a long break for the girls to rest their minds and bodies as we prepare for a long haul through October.