After losing the first of their weekend games yesterday to Saint Peter’s, the Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s volleyball team (2-23, 0-13 MAAC) took on the Rider University Broncs (13-11, 7-4 MAAC). Even though the Bobcats won their first set since Oct.11, the team lost todays match 3-1.
Quinnipiac’s head coach Kristopher Czaplinski started the match with a new lineup that hasn’t been seen yet this year. The most noticeable additions were seniors Tierra Allen and Tanner Celestin, and freshman Nicole Milillo got the start at libero.
The Bobcats began the set with solid play but were outmatched at the net by the Broncs. The majority of Rider’s points came off of attempted blocks from Allen and sophomore Allison Leigh that were deflected out of the reach of their teammates.
Rider was able to capitalize on their chances and Quinnipiac’s mistakes, and they found themselves up 19-8 before Czaplinski called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the momentum changed, and the Bobcats scored 7 of the next 9 points before the Broncs called their own timeout.
Rider’s timeout proved to be the difference, and they coasted through the rest of the first set to win 25-17.
For the first few minutes of the second set, the two sides went back and forth with a few rallies, and it was shaping up to be long set with a tight finish. However, the Broncs were slowly pulling away, and Czaplinski used both of his timeouts in rapid succession to stop the bleeding.
It was 14-9 entering the timeout, before Quinnipiac quickly cut the lead to one. A couple of rallies later, the Bobcats took a 17-16 lead.
The two sides went at it for the rest of the set, and neither team was able to lead by more than a point until the final play of the set. The Broncs led the Bobcats 24-23, and after another rally the Bobcats were called for a net violation, giving the Broncs the 2-0 lead in the match.
Quinnipiac started the third set strong determined to get win the set after letting the second set slip away. They weren’t able to pull away immediately, but eventually they broke through. Rider’s head coach Christopher Feliciano used both of his timeouts early as his team fell behind 17-11.
As the play progressed, Rider slowly crawled back into it. They cut the lead to three and Czaplinski used his first timeout of the set. A few services later, the Broncs cut the lead again to make it 23-21, leading to the final timeout called by the Bobcats. Whatever Czaplinski said to his team seemed to do the trick and the Bobcats won the third set 25-22.
Quinnipiac wasn’t done with the Broncs, and they were energized by their first set win since Oct. 11. They were outplaying Rider from the get-go, and forced Feliciano to use both of his timeouts by the time the score was 12-5. They extended the score to 15-5, but Rider was able to score 5 straight points leading to a Quinnipiac timeout.
Rider continued to push, and when Czaplinski used his final timeout the lead was down to 3. As hard as the Bobcats played, they weren’t able to keep the lead. A few balls bounced the Broncs’ way and they coasted to win the fourth set 25-20.
Celestin led the way for the Bobcats with 13 kills, and freshman Cheyenne Orsi added 10 kills. Freshman setter Sierra Dawson tallied 41 assists, which is her highest total since their Sept. 24 win against Farleigh Dickinson.
Quinnipiac will look to bounce back from this weekend on Tuesday when they host Hartford.
