After a strong outing in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference debut, the Quinnipiac women’s volleyball team displayed another competitive showing in a non-conference matchup against Hartford on Wednesday, despite being defeated, three sets to one.
“We played well,” Quinnipiac head coach Kristopher Czaplinski told the Quinnipiac Bobcats Sports Network. “They played with a lot of intensity, a lot of heart.”
After going down in the first set, the Bobcats were able to recover in the second set, tying the game at 1, before heading into intermission. The players kept up the intensity in the third set but superior play from two of Hartford’s best players, Dionna Kirton and Maya Louis, put the Hawks up big in the latter half of the set. Both players finished with double digit kills by the games end.
Although Quinnipiac was down 2-1, it pushed for a comeback in the fourth set. Chandler Thornton recorded one of her best games statistically, as she had 11 kills and 15 digs. She stood out towards the end of the match, when the Bobcats were neck-and-neck with Hartford in the last set before falling to the Hawks.
“They never let up. That’s the most important thing,” Czaplinski told QBSN. “As a coach, to see your team keep battling and battling. We’re getting over that hump. We’re right there.”
Two freshmen players that stood out in Wednesday’s matchup were Emma Ogden and Allison Leigh. Ogden played the whole game on Wednesday night, recording 35 assists. She leads the team with a total of 324.
Allison Leigh has been the most imposing force on the Bobcats in the middle of court this season. She added eight kills to compliment her team-leading 86. On top of that, she is the number one leader in the MAAC for blocks per set with a 1.11 blocks per set average.
Despite an overall record of just 2-11, the Bobcats have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming weeks, including 17 upcoming conference games.
“We just gotta keep pushing, keep fighting,” Czaplinski told QBSN. “We minimize our serving errors, we would have took a few of those games.”
Quinnipiac heads to Iona on Sept. 28. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
