The Oswego State volleyball team kicked off its 2008 season on the road at the SUNY Oneonta/Holiday Inn Red Dragon Invitational over the weekend, posting a 1-3 record over two days of competition.

The Lakers opened competition on Friday with a pair of matches in pool play, dropping a four-set match to host SUNY Oneonta (25-15, 19-25, 25-19, 25-21), followed by a three-set defeat to eventual tournament champion St. Lawrence University (25-23, 25-19, 25-18). In the opening match, senior co-captain Bethany Widzinski led the Lakers with 12 kills, 19 digs, and 12 aces, followed by fellow classmate and co-captain Amanda Cipriano with seven kills and 19 digs. Setter Katie VanKessel, making her collegiate debut, dished out 30 assist to go with eight digs and an ace. Against St. Lawrence, Cipriano led the team with seven kills, 17 digs, and a pair of aces, followed by Widzinski with five kills and eight digs

Oswego moved into the bronze medal pool on day two, losing to SUNY Potsdam in straight sets (25-18, 25-21, 25-12), before finishing the weekend with a three-set sweep of Utica College (25-17, 25-15, 25-15). Freshman Jessica Isgro (15 digs) and junior Alyssa Brock tallied six kills each for the Lakers, with Cipriano adding three kills and 14 digs. Against Utica, Isgro was the top performer with 13 kills, six digs, and two aces, followed by Cipriano with six kills, 13 digs, and four aces. Widzinski tallied 21 digs, while VanKessel handed out 29 assists.

The Lakers travel to Potsdam on September 5-6 for the Victory Promotions Invitational.