The Quinnipiac University women’s volleyball team played Boston College last Wednesday Oct. 20. Even though they lost, it was an important match for the team and the school. The BC Eagles made the visit to the Burt Kahn Court, a rare event considering they are a Big East team and one of the leaders in the conference. Head Coach Makeba Davis knew just how noteworthy this game was. “This was a very significant game for our program,” Davis said. “Boston College is a big time program, this brings prestige to Quinnipiac. This is something the whole Big East will look at, and they will see what BC did, and what we did as well.”
Although the Eagles swept the QU 3-0, the Bobcats kept it close the whole way. Sophomore Kalyn Hundley, who led the team with 10 kills against BC, was proud of her team’s performance. “We did very well considering our competition,” Hundley said. “This has been an intense couple of weeks, and we proved to people we can play with the best of them.”
Boston College Head Coach Andrea Leonard was impressed with Quinnipiac’s effort: “They preformed very well. We expected them to be scrappy and energetic and control the ball well, and they did just that. I have great respect for the program and Coach Davis, and the energy and effort was reflected by the players. They threw us off balance and made us look at areas of our game we hadn’t looked at before.”
The Eagles won the games 30-26, 30-21 and 30-22. The Cats got off to a fast start in the first game, holding the lead for a good amount before BC stormed ahead to win the game. Quinnipiac was never out of any of the games, but could never quite catch a tough Eagles team. Senior Janka Lopatto had a team high 23 assists and Danielle Erickson had nine defensive digs.
So how exactly did the Bobcats get the Eagles to make the trip down to Hamden? Coach Davis said it all started last year. “We played them last year up in Boston, and when you compete with teams you develop a relationship with their coach and their program. So this year they came to us.” But Boston College is not the only high profile team Quinnipiac has played this year.
They made visits to instate rivals UConn and Hartford. They also were matched up with Brigham Young University, Penn State, Rutgers and Providence. Although they fell short in each of these contests, they were able to gain the respect of their opponents, which is a big step for a program looking to make a leap forward.
Their next match will be against Seton Hall on Nov. 3 in South Orange, NJ.
