By: By RICKY WEBSTER
RELATED: SUNYAC PREVIEW/WEST WEBPAGE
FREDONIA, N.Y. – The Fredonia State women's volleyball team will look to earn the No. 1 seed in SUNYAC West for the fourth straight year this weekend.
The Blue Devils – 17-10 overall, 4-0 in the conference -- travel to Oswego State for the second of two rounds of SUNYAC West pool play starting Friday.
First up is Geneseo at 5 p.m. Friday, followed by Buffalo State at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Blue Devils take on Brockport at noon and finish pool play at 2 p.m. against Oswego State.
Geneseo finished the first weekend of SUNYAC pool play with a 3-1 record, Buffalo State finished at 2-2, and Brockport dropped three of four matches, and Oswego was 0-4.
The Blue Devils enter the weekend as the only West Division member with an overall winning record. They lead the division with 10.58 kills per set and 16.01 digs per set.
Kaitlin Erdmann, a senior middle blocker, had a team-high .406 hitting percentage in the first round of pool play. She is 35th in NCAA Division III with a .354 hitting percentage overall. Junior libero Sarah Zureck leads the SUNYAC with 52 service aces, while junior setter Brittany Lis is averaging a team high 9.00 assists per game. Lis is expected to miss the weekend with an injury.
During the first round of SUNYAC pool play at Geneseo last month, Fredonia State swept Geneseo, Brockport, Buffalo State, and Oswego by 3-0 scores. The Blue Devils are 30-3 in all SUNYAC matches since the start of the 2007 season.
Also this weekend, the Blue Devils look to reach the 20-win plateau for the fourth consecutive season and the ninth time in Geoff Braun's 12-year coaching career.
Fredonia State won the 2008 SUNYAC championship and advanced to an NCAA regional final. Last season, the Devils went 8-0 in pool play but fell short of a second NCAA trip when they were eliminated by Cortland in the SUNYAC semifinals at New Paltz.
The 2010 SUNYAC Volleyball Championships take place November 4-5-6, with the top seed from the West Division serving as the host of the tournament.
