HAMDEN — What better way is there for Quinnipiac volleyball to celebrate its Senior Day than with a 3-0 sweep over Marist in its last home game of the season?
Not only was this the Bobcats’ last regular season home game, but for seniors libero Fa’avae Kimsel Moe and opposite Alexandra Tennon this was the last game they will ever play donning the navy and gold at Burt Kahn Court.
And while graduate opposite Elena Giacomini’s future return as a Bobcat is still up in the air, she was honored after the game right alongside the other two.
“They all mean everything to me,” head coach Kyle Robinson said of his graduating players. “This thing that I do, this job that I have is a very personal thing to me. To do it with the young people that I really care for and respect is huge. Senior Day is always tough for me.”
It wasn’t tough for the Bobcats, though — at least when it came to sending the Red Foxes home (25-21, 26-24, 25-20).
Tennon ended her last home appearance with five kills, an assist, ace and three digs.
She, like Kimsel Moe, was supported from the bleachers by her family, all the way from Richmond, Texas.
“It’s not easy to just let your child come across state lines,” Robinson said. “It’s heavy, so to have parents entrust their prized possessions to my care, how I repay it is, that we treat them like gold and we fulfill the promises I give them, that we are gonna prepare them for the next step and treat them with care and respect, and as long as they are willing they are gonna leave here better than when they dropped them off.”
“It’s like having a little brother,” Tennon’s mother, Samantha Tennon, said about Robinson. “We have a lot of things in common and we joke about the same things. It’s like having a member of the family. I trusted him with my daughter because he knew volleyball, he obviously cared about her. It’s been great to watch him help her grow.”
Kimsel Moe got her final home starting line-up appearance, after being moved out of it by freshman libero Carola Negron-Diaz, and she left her impact with five assists, an ace and 12 digs.
“It was really special for me, especially since it will be the last time I’m playing in this gym, it still feels weird for me to say it,” Kimsel Moe said. “It was exciting that I got to play with all the girls one last time.”
Her fellow Hawaiian native graduate student setter Chloe Ka’ahanui joined her on the floor for the end part of the last set, earning two assists in what is also her last ever appearance at home — even with her extra year of eligibility due to a season-ending injury last year.
“In my head I was like, ‘it’d be really nice to have all the Hawaiians on the court one last time together,’” Robinson said. “Chloe’s been around long enough that it’s time to get her out in the world.”
However, the team was led by junior outside hitter Yagmur Gunes with her 18 kills followed by Giacomini and her 12. Sophomore outside hitter Leilani-kai Giusta was the only hitter on the team with a negative percentage, after noting six attack errors (even though she led the team in digs with 14) — out of the team’s overall 26 for attack and service errors combined.
“It’s horrible, did we really have 26?” Robinson said. “There should not be that many attack errors, that is just so crazy. If you get blocked that’s one thing, if you get dugged that’s another. But if you hit the ball out or into the net? It should not happen.”
He also jokingly remarked that that’s “all I’m gonna think about tonight, I’m gonna have like 26 beers to get over that.”
On the other hand, Quinnipiac’s service was “on point” as Robinson put it, which statistically makes sense as Quinnipiac is currently No. 18 in aces per set in the NCAA Volleyball Division I standings and No. 8 in Team Service Aces.
“Our service is off the charts, we put a lot of pressure on teams,” Robinson said. “I watch enough matches of everyone in the country to know they aren’t serving like us.”
Quinnipiac now looks forward to its last two conference games on the road against Iona and Manhattan on Nov. 16 and 17 respectively, before suiting up for the MAAC Tournament.
“When our offense is going we are a problem for a lot of people in the conference,” Robinson said. “We have attackers that can do damage and bring a lot of headaches for other teams.”
