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Division 1 sweep

Fredonia takes all three from Southwestern

By Christian Storms 5 min read

FREDONIA -- The Fredonia volleyball team jumped to an early lead in three straight sets against Southwestern and cruised to the first two victories 25-19, 25-19. Then, in the third set Southwestern wouldn't go away, keeping the game tied up until 22-22.

However, Fredonia buckled down after its first timeout of the evening and answered Southwestern's 22nd point with a run of three to seal the sweep 25-22, securing the first Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 victory of the season Thursday.

"It's always tough to battle back when you're down," Fredonia head coach Amanda Krakowiak stated. "So any opportunity that you can to take control early on, whether it's early in the season, early in the set, that's great to boost your confidence as you're going into the rest of the season."

Both teams shook off the summer cobwebs in the opening set as each offense struggled to string together runs. It was Fredonia -- playing its second match of the season -- to establish a rhythm on offense scoring a pair of four-point runs to lead the Trojans 21-14, an insurmountable deficit for a squad in its first bit of action this year.

"Definitiely need to work on eliminating those runs," Southwestern head coach Maddie Alexander stated. "They got a couple of serves in at a time and then we would miss a serve back. Definitely got to get past that mental game and push through and figure it out sooner."

Fredonia first got on the board in the second set with a four-point run, keeping the momentum going. The Hillbillies found it easier to score kills with three key options in senior Londyn Wilmot, junior Maddie Krakowiak and senior Elly Saunders providing 11, seven and six, respectively.

"A lot of what we talk about is that mental part of the game," Krakowiak said about her group. "Staying calm in the times where things are not necessarily going our way and trying to say hey 'let's reset, the game's not over and let's fight back.' Our girls have a lot of experience fighting back and coming back from behind, they have more practice doing that then I would love to admit. It's really good to see them fight through those times where it's a little bit more challenging."

Krakowiak and Saunders provided much needed secondary scoring, but the big threat all night for Southwestern was Wilmot who made booming kills above the net and even provided another two blocks in the win.

"I think she's our gametime motivator," Krakowiak said of Wilmot. "She knows how to turn it on, she knows how to motivate the rest of the girls and inspire the rest of the girls to be in it and aggressive. She's a good leader that the girls really look up to and they stay engaged and follow her intensity on the court."

Setting up the Fredonia offense all night was junior Alyse Bugaj who provided 22 assists, two aces and 10 digs.

Southwestern did well from the service line including five aces from Madi Burnett, who also scored four kills, but it wasn't until the third set when the Trojans established consistency offensively.

"We knew that they're a good team and if we dug ourselves a hole it would be really hard to come back," Alexander said. "We always know they're going to be a tough team to compete against. But my team right now that I have is very positive and they love the game and work together really well. It's just learning how to get through that."

Southwestern fought to stay with Fredonia in the third set and the rallies kept going longer and longer as each side became more comfortable. Gianna Sirianni and Reagan Stutzman provided five kills each for the Trojans. Sirianni added three digs and Aurora Hyldahl had six and Elise Kartesz made 13 assists.

"We have a really well-rounded group of girls," Alexander added. "This is our first game of the season so it was kind of a learning curve. Up until about 20 minutes before, I didn't know what lineup I was going to use. We've got a lot of girls that are versatile and went to camp. We played Fredonia at camp this summer and we knew it was going to be a battle, but we also knew it was kind of anyone's game."

However, it was too late for Southwestern (0-1, 0-1) and the experienced Fredonia (1-1, 1-0) squad closed out the third set 25-22 for an early league victory.

"We've been working all summer," Krakowiak added. "Coming into the season you're not sure how other teams what they've been doing over the summer and a little nerves here at the beginning. I'm very happy with the teamwork that the girls have and the chemistry they have been working on in the offseason. Starting right away with one of our tough competition is always a great way to start the season."

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