After defeating Canisius (3-1) in match one Sunday, the Quinnipiac volleyball team (2-2) lost in three sets in match two of the weekend doubleheader.

Maggie Baker had another strong performance, racking up 17 kills in the match. Chloe Ka’Ahanui led the way in assists with 29.

Here are three takeaways from this afternoon’s loss:

FALLING BEHIND EARLY

Canisius dominated early in the first set, taking a 12-4 lead before Quinnipiac started to claw its way back.

The gap would close slightly, but the Golden Griffins would take the lead again and win 25-18.

The second set was more back and forth in the beginning, but Canisius would once again pull away and go on a 9-0 run before taking that set 25-18 as well.

The third set was the closest, but the Bobcats picked up speed too late in the set and the Golden Griffins got the sweep with a 25-20 win.

The Bobcats need to get the momentum first and maintain it, otherwise, opponents like Canisius will be able to capitalize on one mistake and cause a domino effect of errors.

In match one of the doubleheader, that’s exactly what the Bobcats did which helped carry them to a five-set victory. Starting off strong is going to be a key factor going forward this season.

MAGGIE BAKER

Baker was the star of this match for the Bobcats and she will continue to be a huge part of the team’s success this season.

Her 17 kills in the match is good for most on the team today, 10 more than Morgan Sherwin, who had 7.

Baker’s impressive performance carried over from match one where she tied her career-high in kills with 25 and had 10 kills for her second double-double of the season.

Head coach Kyle Robinson is impressed with how far she’s come in her career.

“She [Baker] was not as consistently dominant as she is now,” Robinson said. “We saw this in her and we’ve been pushing her to be this player that she is now.”

LINEUP CHANGES

Robinson made two notable lineup changes in the second match, switching out setter Nicole Migliozzi for Ka’Ahanui and taking out Daniella Balsano at libero for Aryanah Diaz.

Diaz played the first match as an outside hitter and then began match two at libero. During the match, Diaz switched back to her original position, with Balsano returning as libero.

However, Ka’Ahanui played the entire second match at setter. Robinson says the biggest priority is keeping the team safe, so he wants to take advantage of the opportunity to give some players a break from time to time.

This strategy may not have worked out in the Bobcats’ favor today, but being able to utilize more players on the team will build a stronger lineup going forward and give Robinson more options in terms of what players he wants to put on the court in each match.

Next up:

The Bobcats will take on Marist at home on Friday, March 19 at noon and 4:00 p.m. in another afternoon doubleheader.