HAMDEN, Conn — After a weekend on the road, the Quinnipiac volleyball team returned to Burt Kahn Court for a MAAC matchup against the Iona Gaels Wednesday night. The Bobcats started off strong with three straight points, leading to a dominant first set and eventual sweep.
The Bobcats took control throughout, graduate student outside hitter Aryanah Diaz, sophomore outside hitter Yagmur Gunes and sophomore outside hitter Ginevra Giovagnoni were big reasons why, each with four kills apiece in the first set.
In the second set, it was a game of back and forth, with the Bobcats having trouble handling the Gaels. Ultimately Quinnipiac was able to go up 2-0 in the match, remaining consistent with 17 kills overall.
Head coach Kyle Robinson, seen animated at times in the closer second and third sets, knows and acknowledges how well the team looked and how good they played.
“(An) A+ performance, when you do this as long as I’ve been doing this, you know that one thing you don’t want to do is let your opponent hang around,’ Robinson said. ”You don’t want to give the opponent any life.I wanna snap the life out of any opponent I’m facing, I know that sounds a little violent, but competition is violent.”
After holding a two-set lead, the third set saw Iona capitalize on crucial Bobcat errors on the attack, with Quinnipiac having seven errors on the attack, and the Gaels capitalizing with 13 kills in the third set alone. Diaz knew it wouldn’t be easy to finish them off soundly in the final set.
“We went through adversity,” Diaz said. “We went through our ups and downs in that set, but the main thing we did was look at each other after every single play, looking to regroup, making sure we were on the same page with our attackers, with our defense and being ready for whatever they threw at the net.”
The Bobcats faced Iona earlier this season in New Rochelle, New York, winning that match in four sets Diaz says the team learned a lot from their trip to Iona and took that into this matchup
“We talked a lot about our last game in preparation for this one, a lot of that talk was we need to be able to finish the game in the third (set,)” Diaz said. “We knew we were gonna come out with a lot of energy, it’s our gym, it’s our home, we have that confidence here”.
The Bobcats improved to 6-0 on the season at Burt Kahn Court, as well as not losing a set at their home court. With the win tonight, this season marks the first time the Bobcats have surpassed 14 wins in the Robinson era, and the first time the school has gotten that many wins since 2016.
“It’s a good feeling because the product we’re putting out is at a high level,” Robinson said. “It’s not wishy washy, it’s been very clean.”
Another MAAC opponent lies ahead on Sunday afternoon as the Fairfield Stags come to Hamden for a 1 p.m. matchup.
