After a four-game losing streak in the SUNYAC that put the team's post-season hopes in jeopardy, the Blue Devil women's volleyball team swept the final two games of conference play to earn the sixth seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.
On Saturday the team downed Potsdam in three sets (25-17, 25-20, 25-22) followed by a decisive four-set win against Geneseo with the playoff berth on the line (25-21, 25-13, 18-25, 25-20). The Blue Devils will face No. 3 Oswego in the quarterfinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament on Nov. 6.
Against Potsdam, Sara Madison (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) earned one of her best performances of the season, finishing with 14 kills and a .414 hitting percentage. Paulina Rein, in her second game back from a month-long injury, had 11 kills for a .391 hitting percentage. Kelly Edinger (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) picked up 31 more assists to help the team finish with a .244 hitting percentage overall.
The afternoon match against Geneseo would earn the winning team a SUNYAC playoff berth. Fredonia handled the Knights with ease in the first two sets, including a decisive 25-13 second set in which the Blue Devil serving held the Knights' offense to a .051 hitting percentage.
Geneseo pushed back in the third set behind the offense of Paige O'Connor and Paige Pendleton, who finished with nine and eight kills each. The Blue Devils held strong however in the fourth and final set in which Kristen Stanek (Hamburg/Orchard Park) had five of her 15 kills.
Edinger had 43 assists, compared to 27 for Geneseo's setter, Emily Ast.
Fredonia will celebrate their senior night on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. against Medaille, followed by a trip to Nazareth College next weekend for the New York Challenge. The SUNYAC Tournament will be held in Brockport on Nov. 6-8.
