The Quinnipiac Bobcats (1-10, 0-1 MAAC) came into today looking to end their 9-game skid after winning their first game of the year. The Bobcats played their first conference match today against Manhattan (7-4, 1-0 MAAC) who was in the midst of a 3-game losing streak.
With sophomore Emma Ogden out for the Bobcats they would be looking to freshman Sierra Dawson to set now that conference play has rolled around. Dawson and the back line played well early on, helping the Bobcats to jump out to a 5-1 lead.
Manhattan responded to Quinnipiac’s early energy and fought to bring their deficit to 1. The rest of the first set mostly contained back-and-forth action, as no team was able to pull away. Deep into the set, and with a few unforced errors by the Bobcats, the Jaspers found themselves up 22-18. Bobcats’ head coach Kristopher Czaplinski used a pair of timeouts to try and rally his troops, but Manhattan prevailed and took the first set 25-20.
The second set started with strong play from both sides before Czaplinski was forced to use his first timeout of the second set when Manhattan went up 9-5. The timeout halted Manhattan’s momentum and Quinnipiac was able to bring the score to 10-9. An out of bounds, over-the-shoulder kill from Manhattan’s libero Allie Yamashiro made the score 16-10, forcing Czaplinski to use his final timeout.
Yamashiro’s kill sparked the Jaspers, and they never looked back. With a new surge of momentum they cruised to go up 2-0 on the Bobcats with a 25-16 second set win.
Quinnipiac needed to come out strong in the third set and they did just that. They were up 3-1 when junior Chandler Thornton spiked one down the line. The nearside official initially ruled the ball out, but with the complaints by the Bobcats and some indirect pleading by sophomore Katie Urycki the call was overturned. That kill helped the Bobcats extend their lead to 9-3.
Unlike the first set, Quinnipiac was able to maintain its momentum and energy. They were communicating with one another, and looked to be playing with more confidence than that Manhattan. The Jaspers brought the score to 21-13 but Urycki answered with a booming kill, and the Jaspers used their last timeout. The Bobcats went on to win the third set 25-14, marking the end of their streak of 11 straight dropped sets.
Quinnipiac looked to carry its momentum to the fourth set, but it was Manhattan who came out stronger. Quinnipiac’s energy was noticeably lower; Czaplinski called an early timeout to right the ship. The score was only 7-3, but Czaplinski didn’t want the gap to widen.
The Bobcats looked like a new team after the timeout. They pumped the Jaspers for a few quick points and brought the fourth set to a tie at 9-9. The two sides went at it for much of the fourth set, but Manhattan regained the lead and looked to be on their way to a 3-1 victory.
Czaplinski voiced his opinion to the refs after a few questionable calls were made, and wound up with a yellow card from the official. Manhattan went on to win the third set 25-20.
Despite a strong effort from the Bobcats, they dropped their first conference game of the season. The Bobcats will look to rebound with a win against Iona on Sunday, whom they lost to twice last year.
