Coming off a win over defending MAAC champions Fairfield, Quinnipiac failed to continue their in-conference success against Marist. The Bobcats (6-19 overall, 5-10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) fell to the Red Foxes (13-12 overall, 10-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) 3-1 at home. In two of Marist’s winning sets Quinnipiac fell short by just 2 points. Marist was able to capitalize on errors made by Quinnipiac to grab the edge to win.
“When you’re playing this game, it’s a game of errors.” said Head Coach Kris Czaplinski. “You’re going to making mistakes. Either team is going to make mistakes.”
The first set was all back-and-forth. Quinnipiac struggled with communicating. They left many gaps wide open for Marist kills. Towards the end of the set, Marist took a commanding lead of 22-17, but Quinnipiac would not give up easily. They came back to tie it up at 22, but still ended up losing the set 23-25.
The second set was dominated by Quinnipiac. The Bobcats didn’t let the first set loss bring their spirits down. They came out strong, grabbed the lead right away, and never let go of it.
In set three, Marist stepped it up. Marist held a commanding lead early in the set. Quinnipiac put a massive effort every play to try to come back, but kept falling short. Each play was back and forth, but Marist continued to come out on top to get the point. The Red Foxes won the set 25-16.
Marist started off with a commanding lead again in the fourth set, but Quinnipiac was determined to not go down without a fight. The Red Foxes lead 21-13, but the Bobcats didn’t let this intimidate them, getting five straight points to make it 21-17. Marist scored one more time, but Quinnipiac fought to tie it at 22. Quinnipiac dove and sprinted across the court to try to win the set, but Marist ultimately took it 25-23 to win it all.
Quinnipiac knows they have a lot to work on after this loss, especially with the MAAC tournament just around the corner.
When asked what the team needed to work on, Czaplinski said, “Executing the game plan and making sure we’re sticking to that. And when adjustments are made in the games, we’re focusing on making sure that the team is focusing on making those adjustments and applying them.”
Quinnipiac will look to rebound against this loss when they host last-seeded Siena (2-24 overall, 1-13 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). The game will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Hamden.
