Women's volleyball lands several SUNYAC awards
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUNYAC awards
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- For the third time overall and second straight season, Fredonia State's Geoff Braun is SUNYAC Coach of the Year. In addition, sophomore Kaitlin Erdmann (Randolph) was named Player of the Year and freshman Chelsea Senn (Hamburg/Frontier) the Rookie of the Year in the conference's West Division.
Those three awards and the All SUNYAC team were announced Thursday night at the annual awards dinner, held this year at the Clarion Hotel in Dunkirk in conjunction with the SUNYAC championship tournament being held in Dods Hall on the Fredonia State campus.
Senior outside hitter Amy Bertrando (Westfield) and senior setter Alyssa Torpy (West Henrietta/Rush-Henrietta) repeated as All SUNYAC picks, while senior outside hitter Leanne Maloney (West Seneca/Mount Mercy) was named to the team for the first time.
Braun, in his 10th season as head coach, guided the Blue Devils to a 10-0 record in West Division Pool Play and to a 19-1 mark over the past two seasons. He was the SUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2003 and again last year. He becomes the first repeat SUNYAC Coach of the Year since Cortland's Joan Sitterly won the award four straight years (1996 through 1999).
Erdmann, a 5' 10" outside hitter, earned the West Division Player of the Year award after being named SUNYAC West Divison Co-Rookie of the Year in 2007. Senn, a 6' 0" middle blocker, is the lone West Division Rookie of the Year this year. Bertrando, meanwhile, received her third All SUNYAC award -- she was First Team as a sophomore, Second Team last year -- and Torpy her second. She was also a First Team choice in 2007. Maloney made the Second Team this fall.
The Blue Devils will be in semifinal action 3 p.m. Friday against Cortland, a rematch of the 2007 SUNYAC title match, won by the Red Dragons, 3-1. The Red Dragons defeated Geneseo, 3-0, in a quarterfinal match Thursday. New Paltz will meet Brockport in the other semifinal match, at 6 p.m. Friday. The two semifinals winners meet 2 p.m. Saturday for the SUNYAC title.
ALL-SUNYAC TEAMS in men's and women's soccer were also announced Thursday at the league's awards dinner in Oneonta. Three Fredonia State men were chosen All SUNYAC Third Team: sophomore forward Peter Dagel (Rochester/Gates-Chili), junior forward Ryan O'Donnell (Orchard Park), and sophomore midfielder Eli Lubberts (Ontario/Wayne). On the women's side, freshman forward Reilly Condidorio (LeRoy) was a First Team selection and the lone Blue Devil cited.