OSWEGO, NY – The SUNYIT Women's Volleyball Team (15-10, 6-1 NEAC) turned in another stellar weekend on Saturday, going 2-0 to finish the Oswego State Volleyball Invitational 3-1. The performance puts the Wildcats at 7-1 through their last 8 matches, and with their 6-1 NEAC record the 'Cats trail only Penn St.-Berks at 8-0 for the conference lead.
Despite their overall success, the Wildcats had a shaky start to the weekend in facing non-conference opponent Potsdam (16-9, 1-3 SUNYAC) for the second time this season. The Bears had already bested the Wildcats earlier in the year (a 3-1 loss in Potsdam on September 10th), and picked up right where they left off with a 3-0 victory to start the tournament. Potsdam caught fire in the second set, landing 50 percent of their kills (13 kills on 22 attempts and just 2 errors), and rode the momentum to a 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 victory.
Said Wildcat coach Jake Bluhm of the weekend: "The girls played great – our only loss came to probably the best team in the tournament."
In their second match of the night the SUNYIT women proved they had a short memory, beating the Alfred University Saxons in straight sets 25-23, 25-13, and 25-18. This time it was the Wildcats recording the hot second set, recording a .409 hit percentage with 10 kills. All-Tournament selection Juleah Vedder (Sr., Dolgeville, NY) led the team in both kills (15) and digs (12) while sophomore Kaitlyn Harrington (Central Square, NY) led all players with 17 points in the match.
Day Two of the invitational saw the Wildcats keep rolling with a 3-1 victory over SUNY Canton at noon, and a 3-0 victory over NEAC rival SUNY-Morrisville to take the Silver Division crown. Canton gave the Wildcats a bit of a scare in winning the third set 25-21, but SUNYIT responded with a solid 25-17 victory in the fourth set to take the match 3-1.
The third-set hiccup versus Canton only served to focus the Wildcats, as they finished up the weekend with double-digit wins in all three sets over Morrisville. Riding a six-game conference winning streak, Coach Bluhm was pleased:
"We're pushing nicely towards the end of the season; this is definitely a time when we want to be playing well and we have been."
SUNYIT will serve up a rematch with SUNY-Canton in a home contest on Monday (6:00 pm), to be preceded by a recently added home match vs. Nazareth (3:00pm).
Boxscores and details for Day Two games to be posted as they become available.
Tournament MVP
Jenna Blujus - Potsdam
All-Tournament Team