Braun, 3 Blue Devils earn SUNYAC honors
CORTLAND, N.Y. – SUNYAC volleyball coaches chose Fredonia State’s Geoff Braun as the 2003 Coach of the Year, it was announced Friday at the annual volleyball championship students reception on the SUNY Cortland campus.
In addition, junior Heather Martin was named Most Valuable Player of the conference’s West Division, while seniors Liz Geist and Bridget Caffrey were named to the All SUNYAC team.
Braun, in his fifth season at Fredonia State, was chosen on the strength of his team’s 8-0 record in SUNYAC Pool Play. A graduate of SUNY Cortland, Braun started coaching at Fredonia State in 1999 and has a 101-66 career coaching record with the Blue Devils.
Conference coaches selected Martin, a 6-foot-0 middle hitter from Allegany, N.Y/Allegany/Limestone H.S., as the top player in the West Division one year after she made All SUNYAC First Team as a sophomore. Her name appears among the conference leaders in five statistical categories: hitting percentage, kills, blocks, aces and digs.
In addition to being named MVP, Martin was placed on the West Division First team along with Geist and five other players. Caffrey was named to the honorable mention list.
For Geist, a middle hitter from Alden, this is her second postseason award. She was named to the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association team as an honorable mention last weekend. It was her third time receiving a NYSWCAA honor. She appears on four SUNYAC statistical leader lists, including third in blocks and fifth in hitting percentage.
Caffrey, an outside hitter from Rochester's Greece Athena H.S., is listed among the conference dig leaders.
Devils fall in SUNYAC semifinal
Oneonta advance to the SUNYAC championship game with a 3-2 victory Saturday over Fredonia State at SUNY Cortland.
The Blue Devils won the first game 30-27, dropped the next two 17-30 and 28-30, then forced a fifth and deciding game with a 33-22 fourth-game victory. Oneonta (26-15) emerged with the semifinal victory by taking the fifth game, 15-10.
Heather Martin had 12 kills and 24 digs for the Blue Devils (24-12), seeded No. 1 in the West Division. Liz Geist added eight kills, 9 digs and three blocks; Liz Schaller 10 kills and two blocks; and Kim Schmitz 17 digs.
Oneonta, the No. 2 seed in the East, met No. 1 East seed Cortland (42-2) for the SUNYAC title later Saturday. Cortland won the title, its 12th SUNYAC crown and seventh in the last eight seasons.
Geist and Schaller were picked to the all-tournament honorable mention list.
Martin earns NYSWCAA award
Junior middle hitter Heather Martin has received a weekly honor from the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association for the week Oct. 20-26.
An All SUNYAC selection last season as a sophomore, Martin and her teammates will be participating in the NYSWCAA Tournament this weekend at St. Lawrence University.
Geist cited again by NYSWCAA
Senior middle hitter Liz Geist was selected as a honorable mention to the 2003 New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association all-state volleyball team, it was announced Nov. 1 during the NYSWCAA Tournament at St. Lawrence University.
Geist, who hails from Alden, N.Y., was a second team All-NYSWCAA pick last year and a first-team selection in 2001. There was only a first team and honorable mention list chosen this year.
Geist entered the week as the reigning State University of New York Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Player of the Week for the week ending Oct. 26. It is the second time Geist has received the award this season. She was honored previously for the week ending Sept. 21.
PREVIOUS MATCHES
NYSWCAA Tournament
Nov. 1 at Canton, N.Y. -- The Fredonia State Blue Devils won its 24th match of the season -- the most since 1997 -- with a 3-0 decision Saturday over St. Lawrence. Twenty-four wins is the most by any Fredonia State volleyball team dating back to 1984, the first year for which complete won-loss records are currently available. The 30-15, 30-15, 30-12 win came in the consolation round of the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament, held at St. Lawrence. Heather Martin had seven digs, five kills and four aces. Liz Geist -- selected to the all-state team for the third straight year -- added five kills, three blocks and three aces. Elizabeth Schaller chipped in with six kills, two blocks and four digs. Earlier in the day, the Blue Devils (24-11) dropped a 3-1 decision to the University of Rochester. U of R then advanced to fall to No. 1 seed New York University, 3-0. No. 9 seed Fredonia State took a 1-0 lead in its match against U of R by winning the first game, 30-28. The No. 8 seeded Yellowjackets won the next three games 30-28, 30-21 and 30-27. Geist had 11 kills, nine blocks, seven digs and one ace for the Blue Devils. Martin added 14 kills, seven blocks, 23 digs and three aces. Schaller contributed nine kills, six blocks and four digs.
Blue Devils 3, Penn State Behrend 0
Oct. 28 at Fredonia -- A 3-0 victory over Penn State Behrend at Dods Hall marked a milestone in the coaching career of Geoff Braun. It was also the final home game for three Fredonia State seniors. Meanwhile, junior Heather Martin set a school record for kills in a season. She had 12 in the match -- to go along with 16 digs -- and now has 361 kills as a Blue Devil. Teammate Liz Geist was the previous record holder with 358. Geist had 10 kills and seven blocks in Wednesday's match -- a 30-25, 30-19, 30-22 victory by the Blue Devils. Bridget Caffrey added eight kills, nine digs and three aces while Elizabeth Mellander had three kills, 15 digs and three blocks. Geist, Caffrey and Mellander were honored during a pre-match ceremony. The three seniors were playing in their final match in Dods Hall. For Braun, the victory was coaching win No. 100 -- against 63 losses -- in his fifth season at Fredonia State.
Devils sweep SUNYAC West
Fredonia State ran the table in SUNYAC West Division Pool Play by rallying Saturday to defeat host Buffalo State, 3-2, in the last of eight matches spread over two weekends. Liz Geist had 12 kills, eight digs and five blocks and Heather Martin nine kills and 31 digs in the come-from-behind 30-28, 25-30, 22-30, 30-26, 15-12 victory over the Bengals. Kim Schmitz contributed 22 digs. Sophomore setter Traci Pieczynski was the top playmaker with 23 assists to go along with nine digs, two kills and two aces. Liz Mellander had seven kills and 24 digs. The victory -- coupled with a 3-1 win Saturday over Oswego, and 3-2 wins Friday over Brockport and Geneseo -- gave the Blue Devils an 8-0 mark in the two weekends of pool play. They will be the No. 1 seed in from the West at the SUNYAC Tournament Nov. 7-8 at Cortland. In addition, the 22 wins equals last year’s total for the entire season and ties for third most in the history of the program. The Blue Devils have one regular season match left – 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Penn State Behrend – before entering post-season play. Saturday began with a 30-26, 32-30, 24-30, 30-19 victory over Oswego. Martin had 13 kills and 20 digs, Geist had 13 kills and four blocks and Bridget Caffrey had 11 kills and 22 digs. In addition, sophomore setter Heather Rohde collected 24 assists, 12 digs and four kills. On Friday against Geneseo, Geist had 19 kills and 10 blocks, Martin 14 kills and 20 digs and Mellander 20 digs and four kills in the 30-20, 30-26, 23-30, 31-33, 15-12 Fredonia State victory. Martin led the way with 13 kills, 19 digs and five blocks in a 23-30, 31-29, 30-25, 20-30, 15-10 victory over Brockport in the Friday nightcap. Caffrey had 12 kills and 19 digs, while Geist added nine kills and four blocks. The four victories over the weekend gave head coach Geoff Braun a 99-63 career record at Fredonia State.
Oswego Tournament
Oct. 17-18 at Oswego, N.Y. -- Fredonia State defeated Keuka, 3-1, to secure fifth place of the Oswego State Tournament. Heather Martin had 13 kills and eight digs, all-tournament selection Liz Geist 12 kills and Traci Pieczynski 12 assists and eight aces in the Blue Devils' 30-21, 30-19, 30-15 victory. Earlier in the day, RIT rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Blue Devils, who entered the two-day competition bidding for their third straight Oswego Tournament title. Geist had 11 kills and seven blocks, Liz Mellander 28 digs and six kills, and Bridget Caffrey 13 digs and eight kills. The Blue Devils split their two matches Friday on the first day of competition. They opened their tournament title defense with a 3-1 loss to Oneonta. Mellander had 14 digs and 10 kills, Caffrey 27 digs and nine kills, and Geist eight kills and five blocks. The Blue Devils rebounded with a 3-1 victory over St. Lawrence. Geist had 10 kills and three aces, Melander 15 digs and eight kills, and Melissa Selover seven kills.
Blue Devils 3, Medaille 1
Oct. 15 at Fredonia -- The Blue Devils put an end to a four-game skid in defeating Medaille College at Dods Hall. Heather Martin showed the way with 16 kills, 18 digs and four blocks. Liz Geist contributed 13 kills (she had a .591 hitting percentage), 24 digs and five blocks. Also, Heather Rohde collected 28 assists, three aces and 16 digs and Lindsey Drum kncoked down nine kills and had three assists. The Blue Devils dominated the first game, running away with a 30-17 victory. However, Medaille regrouped to take the second game, 30-27. The Blue Devils took the final two games, 30-16 and 30-24. They improved to 16-8 on the season.
Frostburg 3, Blue Devils 0
Pitt-Bradford 3, Blue Devils 2
Oct. 4 at Bradford, Pa. -- The Blue Devils fell to Frostburg State, 3-0, and to Pitt-Bradford, 3-2, during a triangular match. Senior middle hitter Liz Geist had eight kills, 11 kids ang three blocks and junior middle hitter Heather Martin eight kills, seven digs and three blocks against Frostburg. Against Pitt-Bradford, Martin showed the way with 12 kills, 14 digs and six blocks. Sophomore middle backer Elizabeth Schaller added eight kills, five digs and four blocks; Geist had eight kills, 17 digs and six blocks; and junior defensive specialist Kim Schmitz contributed 17 digs. The Blue Devils dropped to 15-8 with the two losses.
Nazareth 3, Blue Devils 2
Oct. 2 at Rochester, N.Y. -- Nazareth College rallied from a 2-1 deficit to deal Fredonia State a 3-2 loss in non-conference action at Kidera Gymnasium. Junior middle hitter Heather Martin led the Blue Devils (15-6) with 19 kills, 15 digs and two blocks. Senior outside hitter Liz Mellander was credited with seven kills and 34 digs. In addition, senior middle hitter Liz Geist added nine kills and five blocks. The Blue Devils took the first game 30-22 and were leading in the second before dropping a 33-31 decision to the Golden Flyers (11-4), NCAA Division III quarterfinalists with a 36-6 mark last season. The Blue Devils regained the upperhand with a 30-28 victory in the third game, only to drop the next two games 30-22 and 15-11. Nazareth was led by Sara Shipley with a career-high 22 kills.
Allegheny 3, Blue Devils 0
The Blue Devils eight-match winning streak came to an end on Tuesday evening as they were swept 3-0 by host Allegheny College, 30-23, 31-29, 30-19. Heather Martin led the offense with nine kills while collecting 13 digs and three blocks. Kim Schmitz provided excellent defense with 11 digs, while Traci Pieczynski collected 11 assists, two aces and nine digs.
SUNYAC Pool Play
Fredonia State ran the table during SUNYAC Western Division Pool Play over the weekend at Oswego State. The Blue Devils (15-4, 4-0) completed their perfect weekend with 3-0 and 3-1 victories Saturday over Brockport and Geneseo, respectively. On Friday, they topped Buffalo State, 3-0, and Oswego, 3-0. As a result, they put themselves in prime position to claim one of the six berths -- three from each division -- into the SUNYAC Tournament later in the season. Junior middle hitter Heather Martin and senior outside hitter Liz Mellander were Fredonia State's top performers over the two days. Martin had 10 kills and 15 digs and Mellander six kills and three aces in the 31-29, 30-28, 30-25 victory Saturday over Brockport. Against Geneseo, Martin had 11 kills and six blocks and Mellander eight kills and 21 digs en route a 30-25, 26-30, 30-21, 30-23 victory. On Friday, Martin had 11 kills and 13 digs and Mellander 16 digs and seven kills in the 30-26, 30-18, 31-29 victory over Buffalo State. Mellander then earned 24 digs as the Blue Devils downed Oswego 30-25, 30-26, 31-29. Other notables were Liz Geist (5 kills and 4 blocks vs. Buffalo State, 11 kills vs. Oswego), Bridget Caffrey (9 kills and 11 digs vs. Oswego, 10 kills and 23 digs vs. Geneseo), and Heather Rohde (21 digs and 10 assists vs. Brockport). The Pool Play sweep extended the Blue Devils' winning streak to eight matches and, including previous tournament meetings, gave them a 9-0 mark against SUNYAC teams this season.
Blue Devils 3, St. John Fisher 1
Sept. 23 at Fredonia -- Fredonia State rallied twice Tuesday before disposing of St. John Fisher, 3-1, in a non-conference match Tuesday at Dods Hall. The Blue Devils (11-4) dropped the first game, 30-28, before rallying to win the next two 30-25 and 30-26. Then with the Fisher women leading 16-13 in the fourth game, head coach Geoff Braun called a time-out to calm his team. The Blue Devils responded by running off a string of points and turned the momentum back to their favor for good in the 30-23 clincher. Junior middle hitter Heather Martin led the offense with 13 kills to go along with nine digs and five blocks. Liz Geist chipped in with 11 kills and three blocks, while Bridget Caffrey had 10 kills, 13 digs and two blocks.
RIT Tournament
Sept. 19-20 at Rochester, N.Y. --- Victories Saturday over SUNYAC oppnents Brockport and Buffalo state vaulted the Blue Devils into fifth place at the RIT Tournament. Liz Geist's triple-double in a 3-1 victory over Brockport was the highlight of the day. The senior middle hitter from Alden had 10 kills, 12 digs and 10 blocks. Also contributing to the 30-28, 20-23, 19-30, 30-24 victory were junior middle hitter Heather Martin with 10 kills, 16 digs and six blocks; and senior outside hitter Liz Mellander with five kills and 26 digs. Martin followed up with 11 kills, 21 digs and two blocks in a 30-27, 30-25, 27-30, 30-27 victory over Buffalo State. Mellander added eight kills and 29 digs, Geist eight kills and seven blocks and senior outside hitter Bridget Caffrey 12 kills and 11 digs. The Blue Devils dropped a 3-2 decision to St. John Fisher, then bounced back with a 3-0 victory over Geneseo on the first day of the tournament Friday. Up 2-1 against Fisher, the Blue Devils slipped up in the next two games. Geist had 18 kills, three aces, 10 digs and three blocks; Liz Schaller 10 kills and six blocks; Caffrey nine kills and 27 digs; and Martin 11 kills, 18 digs and six blocks. Martin had 13 kills, 10 digs and two blocks in the subsequent victory over SUNYAC rival Geneseo. Caffrey added 12 kills and 10 digs, while Heather Rohde contributed 21 assists and 12 digs.
Rochester 3, Blue Devils 0
Sept. 16 at Rochester, N.Y. --- Three unforced errors late in the first game started the Fredonia State Blue Devils on a downslide from which they were unable to recover. Up 28-25 at one point, the Blue Devils (7-3) missed three serves – including two into the net – en route a 35-33 first-game setback. The Yellowjackets (10-2) used the momentum swing to capture their seventh straight match victory, 3-0, with subsequent game scores of 30-21 and 30-20. Junior middle hitter Heather Martin was a bright spot for Fredonia State with 10 kills, 10 digs, three aces and four blocks. Senior middle hitter Liz Geist added six kills and six blocks, while sophomore setter Heather Rohde had 11 assists and 15 digs. Getting shutout is unusual for the Blue Devils. Dating back to the final match of the 2001 season, they had won at least one game in 43 straight matches – including all 33 matches last season.
Penn State Behrend Invitational
Sept. 10-11 at Erie, Pa. -- Heather Martin was named to the Penn State Behrend all-tournament team following Fredonia State's third-place finish Saturday, Sept. 13. Martin had 13 kills, four aces, eight digs and three blocks in the Blue Devils' 3-1 victory over Washington & Jefferson in the tournament consolation game. Liz Geist contributed nine kills and seven blocks while Bridget Caffrey added 10 kills and 12 digs. The Blue Devils won the match by scores of 30-26, 30-24, 20-30 and 32-30 to improve to 7-2 overall. Earlier Saturday, the Blue Devils lost 3-1 to St. Vincent by scores of 30-24, 22-30, 14-30 and 20-30. Martin had 14 kills, eight digs and four blocks; Heather Rohde 22 assists and 15 digs; and Geist eight kills and three blocks. Fredonia State won both of its matches on the first day of the tournament: 3-2 over Hiram College, and 3-0 over Medaille. Against Hiram, Caffrey had 11 kills, 16 digs and two blocks; Liz Mellander 12 kills, 15 digs and two blocks; Kim Schmitz 17 digs; and Geist and Martin seven blocks each. Against Medaille, Geist had 12 kills, seven digs, four blocks and a .476 hitting percentage; Rohde 21 assists and eight digs; Melissa Selover seven kills; and Martin six kills and six blocks.
Red Dragon Classic
Sept. 5-6 at Cortland, N.Y. -- Fredonia State claimed the gold medal division of the Red Dragon Classic with two 3-1 victories Sept. 6 at Cortland State. In a 30-23, 30-24, 26-30 and 30-28 victory over Geneseo, Heather Martin had 21 kills, 19 digs and two blocks; Heather Rohde added 20 assists and 17 digs; and Liz Mellander contributed 20 digs, six kills and four aces. The Blue Devils followed that with a 30-22, 22-30, 33-31 and 30-24 victory over Buffalo State. Rohde had 18 assists and 14 digs; Liz Geist 12 kills, five blocks, four digs and three aces; Bridget Caffrey 20 digs and five kills; and Martin eight kills, eight digs and four blocks. The Blue Devils (3-1) lost their first match of the tournament Sept. 5 to Lebanon Valley, 3-2. Mellander had eight kills, 21 digs and two blocks; Geist eight kills, three aces and five blocks; Rohde 23 assists and 13 digs; and Martin 11 kills, four aces and 12 digs. They rebounded with a 3-0 victory over Keuka College. In that match, Caffrey had eight kills, seven digs and two aces; Geist six kills and four blocks; and Mellander six kills, 13 digs and one block. Rohde was selected to the all-tournament team.
Blue Devils 3, Alfred 0
Sept. 3 at Fredonia -- Fredonia State opened its 2003 season Wednesday with a 30-20, 30-20, 30-15 victory over Alfred University at Dods Hall. Heather Martin had a team-high 15 digs plus two aces, six kills and three blocks. Liz Mellander led the Blue Devils with eight kills. She also had six digs and one block. Bridget Caffrey led the team with 13 digs to go along with four kills and one block. Heather Rohde chipped in with 11 assists, two aces and eight digs. Liz Geist had seven kills, four blocks and made no errors.
