By Matthew Colucci

After their loss on Saturday against Niagara, the Quinnipiac Bobcats (4-16, 2-6) looked to rebound against the Canisius Golden Griffins (7-13, 5-4) on Sunday, but they lost the match 3-0.

The young team has, at times, looked like one of the best teams in the MAAC. However, the Bobcats have been struggling as of late.

Canisius opened the match with a 7-1 run, and later expanded that lead to 13-4. The Golden Griffins took advantage of the lack of energy from Quinnipiac and capitalized off of the continuous errors that the Bobcats committed.

In the first set alone, the Bobcats committed nine errors on 30 attempts and ultimately finished the set with an attack percentage of .033. Led by setters Grace Streicher and Sydney Palka, Canisius took the first set 25-17 with a .296 attack percentage.

Quinnipiac got off to another slow start in the second set, and fell behind early 3-0. Once Canisius got up three points they did not look back. Quinnipiac was able to put together one decent run of four straight points, but the Canisius chemistry overpowered the Bobcats, and they won the second set 25-19.

Freshman Jamie Paolucci (Lake Mary, Fla.) was the Bobcats’ most consistent attacker throughout the first two sets with 10 kills. Even Paolucci was struggling though, as she committed seven errors in the first two sets alone.

The third set was more of a competition from the start, and the Bobcats were actually on top 4-3 in the early going, but that lead quickly evaporated. The Bobcats’ outside hitters started blasting the ball all over the gym, and the Golden Griffins stood and watched the ball land outside of the lines over and over, as they took a commanding 11-4 lead.

Quinnipiac was able to bring the deficit down to three points later in the set, but in the end, Canisius was too hot to handle and they wound up winning the third set 25-16, and the match 3-0.

The story of Saturday repeated itself on Sunday; every time Quinnipiac started playing well, and every time they started to string together a few points, they committed an unforced error. With all of their errors, the Bobcats handed the momentum to Canisius, and ultimately beat themselves.

Paolucci led the field with 13 kills, and fellow freshman Emma Ogden (Crown Point, Ind.) recorded 30 assists, also a match high.

The loss against Canisius marks the end of the Bobcats’ home stand, and after winning the first two of the five consecutive home games, they ended up dropping the last three. Quinnipiac looks to get back on the right track next Saturday when they visit Siena.