(Ron Szot photo)
The Fredonia Blue Devils women's volleyball season found its end in Geneseo after falling to the first-seeded Knights in straight sets Friday night.
The match began with SallyAnne Rudny (Jamestown/Southwestern) finding the back corner for a Fredonia point and what followed was nothing short of an outstanding match.
The first set went back and forth until Fredonia scored its 10th point to tie the game. The Knights rattled off nine straight points until a service error broke the Knights' run. The Blue Devils didn't lay over scoring four straight points including back-to-back kills by Kailey Falk (York, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) with the Knights at game point. Geneseo's Grace Cergol sealed the first set victory with a kill. The final score of the first set was 25-15.
The second set started much like the first. Neither team could extend their lead by more than a couple points until Fredonia scored four straight off two Rudny kills and two Knights attack errors. That put the score at 21-15. The Knights answered with two points from Fredonia errors and a kill from Maddie McLaughlin. Emma Falk (York, N.Y/Our Lady of Mercy) and Rudny responded with back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 23-18.
The second set finished with an 8-1 run by the Knights to steal the set from the Devils and go up 2-0.
Rudny and Kailey Falk each contributed five kills in the second set.
The Devils continued to battle in the third set but the Knights proved to be too much. They scored four of the last five points to win 25-21 and secure their spot in the championship.
"I'm proud with how the team played," Fredonia Head Coach Geoff Braun said after the game. "I thought we executed our game plan most of the match but we just ran into a really good Geneseo team."
Rudny led the Devils in kills with 18 while Makenna Kallin (Owego/Owego) posted 16 digs with only one receiving error. Rachel Aiello (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker), in her final game as a Devil, recorded 12 digs and seven assists. Kailey Falk also in her final game finished with seven kills and 10 digs.
The Devils finish their season 22-10 overall.
