Fairfield swept the Quinnipiac volleyball team 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 27 for its 44th straight MAAC win. The Stags have not lost a MAAC match since the 2015 season, in which they were defeated 3-2 by Iona.
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[/media-credit]Quinnipiac battled to a close 25-22 loss in the first set, but Fairfield quickly took control and finished the night with a clean sweep of the Bobcats.
“Fairfield is very good…this is a game of errors, we’re going to make errors. But if we can, be loud be aggressive, make sure the communication is at an all-time high,” head coach Kris Czaplinski said. “Then we’re going to be in every single game, so if we could duplicate that first game we’re going to be ok.”
Quinnipiac earned a total of 37 kills over the three sets, while Fairfield earned a total of 48 kills.
Sophomore hitter Natalie Alechko had a strong performance for the Bobcats as she led the team in kills with 10. Alechko, along with other underclassmen players have had to step up recently due to the absence of key veteran players like junior hitter Jen Coffey.
One of these players that came up big on Friday for the Bobcats was sophomore hitter Kaleigh Oates, who was all over the front lines for the Bobcats making blocks and plays.
“To go from the outside, to the middle and then execute the way that she’s doing right now, that’s a coach’s dream.” Czaplinski said She’s doing everything that we ask of her and she still wants more feedback, she wants more information.”
The team is back in action on Saturday Nov. 4 against Rider on the road. The Bobcats aim to use the week off to help fine tune some aspects of their game, but according to Czaplinski the biggest thing they aim to work on is their consistency.
“We’re going to make errors, but the longer we could stay consistent in everything we’re going to be fine,” Czaplinski said.
The Bobcats are currently fighting for the final spot in the MAAC Tournament. With their loss to Fairfield and Canisius’ upset of Niagara, they now trail the Golden Griffins by one game.
As of now Quinnipiac has four regular season matchups left all being against fellow MAAC teams, but Czaplinski believes that if his team can stay focused they can find a way to secure its spot in the MAAC Tournament.
“There’s so many things [to work on],” Czaplinski said. “We’re going to get back to it at practice on Tuesday and then just make sure our fundamentals are solid.”
