The Quinnipiac women’s volleyball team kicked off a seven-game homestand on Saturday with a loss in three sets to the Iona Gaels. The game was the Bobcats’ first home game since Sept. 19 after playing 16 of their first 18 matches away from Burt Kahn Court. 

 The Bobcats were overpowered from the start as several dominating Iona runs put Quinnipiac behind early in the first set. Solid play however from sophomore middle blocker Lexi Morse and junior outside hitter Aryanah Diaz kept the Bobcats within striking distance with the score 19-17. The Gaels would fight back though and close out the set on a 6-1 run, punctuated by three straight Quinnipiac attack errors. 

 Errors were the downfall of the Bobcats against the Gaels. The 19 attack errors in the game led to a season low attack percentage for Quinnipiac against MAAC opponents (.054). The team’s service abilities were also thwarted by Iona, holding the Bobcats without a service ace for only the second time this season (Oct. 2 at Fairfield).  

 “I really believe that when we’re on, we’re the best serving team in the conference,” said Quinnipiac head coach Kyle Robinson. “We normally walk away with a handful of aces and we have teams worried about our service game, but they weren’t worried today.” 

 The second set would be a microcosm of Murphy’s law for the Bobcats. Many misjudged plays on the ball as well as the aforementioned attack errors by the Quinnipiac players would give the Gaels ample opportunity to simply cruise to a 25-12 victory in the set.  

 The main sense of hope for the Bobcats would come from Diaz, as she led the team in kills (8), digs (9), and was second in assists (4), all while never leaving the court. 

 “I was just trying to go out there and bring as much energy as I could,” Diaz said. “I felt that we were lacking a little bit of that and leadership, so I was trying to go out and lead the team in ways that I haven’t before.” 

 The energy and leadership from Diaz shined through as she began the third set with three straight kills, giving the Bobcats a sliver of momentum, as Quinnipiac would build an 11-6 lead through the first 17 serves of the set. A resilient Iona offense brought the Gaels back however, with a 6-0 run giving them a 19-16 lead, and a 4-0 run ending the set and the match 25-21, capped off with a kill from Iona junior middle blocker Fleur Wiersma.  

 The loss now drops the Bobcats’ record to 4-6 in the MAAC and 5-14 overall heading into a crucial stretch of their season with six more matches to be played at home prior to the conference tournament.  

 “Hopefully they use this as a wakeup call to go into Manhattan with a bit more pride for their game, and pride for our university and the logo they wear on their chest,” Robinson said.  

 The Bobcats will look to bounce back from this loss on Sunday against the aforementioned Manhattan Jaspers at 1 p.m. at the Burt Kahn Court. The Gaels will try to maintain their now four game winning streak on Sunday on the road against the undefeated Fairfield Stags.