FREDONIA, N.Y. – First place in SUNYAC volleyball will be on the line this weekend at Dods Hall
 
The Fredonia Blue Devils and the New Paltz Hawks bring 6-0 conference records into their meeting at 5 p.m. Friday. The winner will stay unbeaten heading into Saturday, when each will play their final two pool play matches this fall.

The regular-season champ will serve as host team for the SUNYAC Tournament next month.
 
"There is a lot of excitement leading up to this weekend," head coach Geoff Braun said. "Having already clinched a playoff berth eases the mind a bit but there is much to play for."
 
On Saturday, the Blue Devils will face Oswego at 10 a.m. and Geneseo at 12:30 p.m. New Paltz will also play those two teams Saturday in the adjoining court inside Dods.

Friday's Fredonia vs. New Paltz winner would need to win at least one of their Saturday matches to lock down the No. 1 seed.
 
"Both matches on Saturday are against good teams that may be fighting for their playoff lives," Braun said. "It is going to be a very intense weekend in Dods."

Fredonia and New Paltz have already met once this season, on Sept. 12, with the Hawks prevailing, 3-1, in the opening match of their own Hawks Invitational. The Blue Devils have gone 14-3 since then -- including five straight wins -- and bring a 19-7 overall record into the weekend. New Paltz is 22-5 overall. 

The other SUNYAC pool play competition this weekend is at Plattsburgh where the Cardinals will play host to Brockport, Buffalo State, Cortland, Oneonta, and Potsdam. The top six teams qualify for the conference tournament.

NOTES: Fredonia leads the SUNYAC in four team statistical categories, and is second or third in nine others. The Blue Devils are tops in digs per set, assists per set, kills per set, and total service aces ... Fredonia is also ranked in the Top 50 nationally in four categories, including No. 20 in total digs and No. 25 in digs per set ... The 42-dig match by freshman libero/defensive specialist Courtney Poirier (West Seneca, N.Y. / West Seneca West) last week vs. Houghton is tied for the 12th highest total in an NCAA Division III match this season ... The Houghton match also produced two NCAA Top 5 game highs by the Blue Devils. Their 138 team digs is tied at No. 4 while their 238 team attacks is No. 5 on the national lists this week ... Junior setter Kelly Edinger (Rochester, N.Y. / Greece Athena) has 952 assists, which leads the SUNYAC and is No. 17 in D-III. Edinger also leads SUNYAC in assists per set (10.13) and is ranked No. 24 nationally ... Like Edinger, junior libero Lauren Hokaj (Lancaster, N.Y. / St. Mary's of Lancaster) leads SUNYAC in two categories -- total service aces (50) and service aces per set (0.63) -- while junior middle blocker Jessica DiChristopher (Cheektowaga, N.Y. / West Seneca East) leads in one category -- points per set (3.93).