Fredonia defeated Geneseo, 3-0, in a SUNYAC Pool Play match Oct. 20 at Oneonta. They will meet Friday in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament at Brockport.

“We are excited for the opportunity,” Blue Devil head coach Geoff Braun said, “to lay it all on the line.”

Geneseo (23-10) defeated Cortland on Tuesday, 3-0, in a first-round match to advance to the semifinals. Fredonia (21-9) got there by virtue of a first-round bye — the result of earning the No. 2 seed during the regular season.

SUNYAC’s other semifinal match pits New Paltz, also a first-round winner, against No. 1 seed and defending champ Brockport at 7 p.m. Friday. The semifinal winners meet for the conference championship at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The Blue Devils were nine points better as they were sweeping Geneseo 25-23, 25-22, and 25-21 during the regular season. It was the start of a nine-game winning streak which Fredonia currently is on. During the streak, the Blue Devils went over the 20-win mark for the 13th time in Braun’s 19 seasons.

“I feel as if our athletes have a healthy perspective,” Braun said. “We are confident but also respect the fact that at this point in the season everything is more difficult. We have to stick to what we do best: Win the serve/pass game while keeping pressure on our opponents.”

Men’s hockey to start SUNYAC play

The Fredonia men’s hockey team visits Brockport on Friday, then returns home Saturday to take on Geneseo. Both SUNYAC games have 7 p.m. starts.

With his team coming off an opening season loss last Friday at Utica, Head Coach Jeff Meredith is approaching the game as if it were a post-season encounter rather than the first weekend of the SUNYAC regular season.

“The playoffs begin in Brockport this Friday, “ he said. “That’s how important the SUNYAC games are as we get ready to enter this first weekend of conference play.”

The 7-3 opening season loss to Utica, ranked No. 14 at the time, seems to have served as an eye-opener for Fredonia, which entered the season at No. 5 in the SUNYAC coaches’ pre-season poll.

“I think us getting slapped around in Utica was a good thing for us,” Meredith said, “as it really forced us to look inside ourselves and re-find what had made us successful last year. The thing that we lacked at Utica.was the all-out battle, compete, and doggedly consistent work level. In order to be successful in college hockey, you have to have those things.

“The good news is that we got that out of each day of practice this week and more importantly, our guys knew that that was what was missing and they brought it. We go into Brockport after having a great week of practice and are ready for the playoffs.”