TOURNEY PAGE
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Capital University defeated Fredonia State, 3-0, in the championship game of the Blue Devil Invitational at Dods Hall.
The Crusaders (16-7) won all four of their matches over the two days. They defeated St. John Fisher, 3-2, earlier Saturday, then claimed the title with 25-7, 25-23, and 25-21 set wins over the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils fell behind early in the first set vs. Capital and failed to generate the offense, instead relying on Crusader service errors for a majority of their points.
Fredonia State led 15-10 midway through the second set before Capital began its comeback. The Blue Devils led 21-20 before consecutive kills by Capital's Sanaya El-Naggar. The Blue Devils commited two attack errors and a service error to account for the final three Capital points.
After a see-saw start, Capital gained the advantage in the third set and led twice by six points, 14-8 and 15-9. The Blue Devils rattled off seven of the next eight points to catch the Crusanders at 16-16.
Jennifer Newhouse and
Lindsey Olson each had a kill and a block, Reanne Sansone a kill,
Hannah Manning had a service ace, and Capital made an attack error to account for the Blue Devil points.
Fredonia State then pushed out to a 21-19 lead as
Lauren O'Hara had a kill,
Jessica Ernstberger a service ace,
Chelsea Senn a kill, and Manning a kill. There was also a Capital net violation in the mix.
The Crusaders rattled off six straight points to close out the match. Following a Blue Devil service error, Capital's Emily Heitmeyer and Tara Luth recorded consecutive kills. Out of a Blue Devil timeout, Marissa Price returned a ball over into a dead space, Heitmeyer scored off a block, and Luth ended the match with a kill down the left sideline.
Newhouse led the Blue Devils with eight kills, while Manning and Olson had six kills each. Olson also had 10 digs.
Brittany Lis received credit for 23 assists,
Sarah Zureck had two service aces and 10 digs.
For Capital, El-Naggar had 10 kills and 17 digs; Price had 25 assists, four service aces, and 12 digs; Elissa Foster had 12 digs; and Luth had seven kills and 10 digs. Heitmeyer also had seven kills.
The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 13-9. They advanced to their own tourney title game with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-15) victory over Oneonta State earlier Saturday. In that match, Manning had 10 kills and two blocks; Newhouse nine kills and two blocks; Olson and Senn seven kills each; Lis 38 assists, and Zureck four service aces and 10 digs. Senn added three blocks.
Fredonia State is back in action vs. Penn State-Behrend in Dods Hall at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
