Katie Urycki was all over the court on Sunday as her performance helped the Quinnipiac women’s volleyball team defeat Saint Peter’s, 3-1. She dominated the outside of the net where her teammates were setting her up all game, smashing 17 kills. It marked a career-high for the freshman outside hitter and it was the most kills recorded in a match by any Bobcat this season.
“Katie was unstoppable today,” Quinnipiac head coach Kris Czaplinski said. “She had two, three blocks on her and she was going right through them and finding ways to find the court so she was great today. Brittanie (Robinson) was placing the ball very well. Everybody did a great job. Whoever was in the game contributed for us today.”
Urycki’s stellar performance in today’s match wasn’t just seen in the offensive aspect as she had a great day defensively, as well. She posted 11 digs, three service aces and two blocks in her second career double double.
After defeating Rider on Saturday afternoon, the win gives the Bobcats their second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory of the season, as well as extending their win streak to two games. Their record stands at 4-13 (2-3 MAAC) while the Peacocks record is now just 3-16 (1-6 MAAC)
After battling back from 21-16 deficit in the fourth set, the Bobcats went on to win seven of the next nine points to tie the score at 23-23. Quinnipiac survived four set points until an ace from junior Tanner Celestin (Norco, Calif.) and kill from junior Brittanie Robinson (Fresno, Calif.) ended the match in favor of the Bobcats, 29-27.
The Bobcats were able to take the final two sets of the match after dropping the second set to Saint Peter’s. Czaplinski told the team to “have fun” going into halftime as he later stated that they lost the fun factor they displayed in Saturday’s match against Rider.
The Bobcats started the game with high levels of intensity as they dominated the court early in the first set. After starting the set with a 9-1 run, Quinnipiac got comfortable a little too early, as the Peacocks were able to fight back towards the end of the set. The Bobcats ultimately held on to the lead where they finished the first set on top of Saint Peter’s, 25-21.
The Bobcats continued to run into some trouble throughout the second set as the Peacocks went on to win the set, 25-20, never losing a lead.
Comebacks were the story of the game for the final two sets as the Bobcats trailed for most of third and fourth sets until they seized control late in the sets with big runs, eventually giving them the win. When the Peacock’s tied the score at 20-20 in the third set, Urycki had three kills to secure Quinnipiac with a 25-3 victory.
Along with Urycki’s strong outing, her play was backed up by her freshman middle hitter Allison Leigh who added 12 kills and six blocks. This game came directly after Leigh accumulated a Quinnipiac Division I program record with 13 blocks against Rider on Saturday. She leads the MAAC with 77 blocks this season and is on-pace to break the program’s single season record of 145.
Freshman setter Emma Ogden had 14 digs to go along with her team leading 36 assists, marking her third double double of the season, while senior libero Logan Riker recorded a season-high 21 digs versus the Peacocks.
“We just got to play our game,” says Czaplinski. “Today we didn’t play our game, we were playing more of Saint Peter’s game. If we play our game, I don’t think we’re going to have any issues.”
