Record-setting team returns nearly intact
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CONTACT: Jerry Reilly,
Sports Information Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Women's Volleyball
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- The 2008 season should be another exciting year for the Fredonia State women’s volleyball team.
Only one player graduated from the 2007 team which won more matches and advanced farther than any other team in the history of the program. Granted, it was a much-decorated player -- JaHanna Dixon was a four-time All SUNYAC player for the Blue Devils. She and her teammates advanced to the SUNYAC Championship match last fall before falling to Cortland, 3-1, on the Red Dragons’ home floor.
In the end, the Blue Devils had posted a 26-13 won-loss record to eclipse the previous single-season school record for wins by two. In addition, two individual single-season school records were set while other performances hit the team’s all-time single-season stat charts.
Two-time All SUNYAC outside hitter Amy Bertrando, 2007 First Team All SUNYAC setter Alyssa Torpy, and 2007 SUNYAC West Rookie of the Year Kaitlin Erdmann, a sophomore middle hitter, received accolades from conference coaches last season.
One of six seniors on the squad, Torpy will look to run the offense again in 2008. Her 1,359 assists last season are second most in school history and she is currently second all-time in career assists. Bertrando and fellow senior Leanne Maloney bring an exciting offensive game on the outside while Maloney is also a tenacious defender and a strong server. She led the Blue Devils in 2007 with 645 digs, the third-best season in school history, and set a school record with 90 service aces. Bertrando, meanwhile, had 391 kills for the second straight seasons and tied herself for fifth on the school’s single-season top 10 list.
The core of senior returners is rounded out with defensive leader Val Grell, and two players, Katie Schaller and Tonja Royce, returning from injuries. Royce was limited to 34 games as a junior, while Schaller sat the entire season out.
Meanwhile, Erdmann will attempt to build on her successful freshman season in which she finished 19th in NCAA Division III with a school-record hitting rate of 38.2 percent. Junior middle hitter Jen Reese is also expected to have an impact at the net. Also back are two sophomores who saw considerable playing time as freshmen, opposite Jenna Tatu and libero Danielle McNeil, as well as sophomore outside hitter Mallory Swanson.
Head coach Geoff Braun did not spend the off-season resting on his laurels. The 2007 SUNYAC Coach of the Year recruited six freshman and a junior college transfer, several of whom could become starters or significant reserves.
Brittany Lis and Jess Ernstberger, both setters, look to have a hand in running the offense while flashing their strong defensive abilities. Lis was Second Team All State as a senior at Lancaster H.S. Middle hitter Chelsea Senn, a Third Team All State choice at Frontier H.S., is a strong presence at the net and defensive specialist Sarah Zureck looks to immediately compete for the libero position and solidify the team's serve receive.
Jen Newhouse brings her 6'2" presence to the net and can play both middle and opposite, while outside hitter Rebecca Zimmerman is coming off two seasons as an outside hitter at Jamestown Community College, the same program that yielded eventual All SUNYAC player and current Blue Devil assistant coach Stephanie DeGolier.
The Blue Devils were the No. 1 seed in SUNYAC West Division last season. Should they repeat as No. 1 in 2008, they would host the SUNYAC Tournament at Dods Hall the weekend of Nov. 6-8.