After four nail biting sets, the Quinnipiac Bobcats lost to the Fairfield Stags on Saturday 1-3. The Bobcats were coming off a 3-1 win against the Niagara Purple Eagles last week at Burt Khan. Now facing the number one team in the MAAC, as well as Connecticut rival, the Bobcats knew the challenge they faced.

A part of their homestand, the team played during Parent and Alumni Weekend where they saw a packed crowd for this matchup.  The stands were filled with students, parents, alumni, and even Quinnipiac president Judy Olian to witness the four-set match.

Each set started the same with Fairfield putting the first points on the board.

In the first set the Bobcats lost 19-25.  During this set the team struggled with errors and miscommunications on the court giving Fairfield the opportunity to score.  Throughout the game the Bobcats and Stags would go back and forth with points till the Stags pulled away to end the set.

The second set saw more of the same first set play from both teams. Quinnipiac struggled with movement towards the ball and communication, while Fairfield took the opportunity to attack the open spots the Bobcats left on the court.

The third set was where the crowd would see a turn in play and energy.  The Bobcats and Stags continued to go back and forth with scoring until Fairfield faced some communication issues of their own giving Quinnipiac an opportunity to win. The momentum shifted in the Bobcats favor when the team started pulling away with a 21 to 17 score. Both teams went back and forth in this set before it was tied at 23 to 23 leaving the crowd on the edge of their seats. The game ended with an attack error from Fairfield ending the set 25-23.

The fourth and final set saw a frustrated Quinnipiac team as they were trailing early in the set before the momentum started swinging back in their direction.  Once again, the two teams tied 24-24 with the match point in Quinnipiac’s favor.  The two tied again at 25-25 before Fairfield won it 27-25.

Though the team lost, they walked off the court with smiles on their faces.  Before the game had started, the team had played to the crowd throwing out celebratory candy for service aces and tossing out small volleyballs signed by the players.

One of the highlights for the game was the packed crowd in Burt Khan.

“It’s a lot more fun when you’re playing in a crowded gym, people chant your name, chant for the school, as opposed to dead silence playing in like a tomb,” head coach Kyle Robinson said.

The crowd also fueled Nicole Legg and Aryanah Diaz who were key players in the game.  Legg led the team with 13 kills and 18 points scored, while Diaz led the team with 13 digs

Robinson and his team will look to “just keep moving forward” as they continue their homestand on Nov. 6^th when they face Marist at Burt Khan Court.