Quinnipiac Athletics waved goodbye to yet another group of senior athletes as six members of the women’s volleyball team played in their final home game this Sunday with the Bobcats facing off against the Siena Saints.  

The match itself ended in favor of Quinnipiac, as the Bobcats defeated Siena in just four sets, securing their second win of the season against the Saints and improving their overall record to 9-16.  

Both teams, each on their own respective two game losing streaks, looked to get back on track with a win.  

In the first set, Siena started off by scoring quickly, tallying the match’s first points, but soon relinquished the lead to the Bobcats who held on for the entirety of the set, winning 25-19. The Bobcats did not trail once following Siena’s early lead, securing a 1-0 advantage heading into the second set.  

Siena looked to tie things up early in the second set, jumping out to a quick 6-3 lead. Later in the set, with Siena on top 13-9, Coach Robinson used his first timeout of the game to give his players the encouragement they needed to bounce back.  

And bounce back they did; the Bobcats regained momentum coming out of the timeout, playing with heightened levels of energy and vigor. Kills from seniors Maggie Baker and Nicole Legg solidified an 11-2 Quinnipiac run who ended up taking the set, 25-21. 

Faced with a 2-0 deficit, the Saints proved they would not go down without a fight, taking the third set 25-22.  

Senior middle blocker Abby Huffman led the way for Siena, tallying multiple blocks and kills in the third set. Paired alongside Huffman, graduate student and right-side hitter Emily Wunder contributed multiple kills as well, erasing any Quinnipiac momentum. Both Huffman and Wunder finished the match with 11 kills each.  

Despite a sudden resurgence from the Saints, Quinnipiac shut down any hopes of taking the game to a fifth set.  

After the first ten serves of the fourth set, the two teams were tied at five points apiece. This trend proved persistent, with both teams going back and forth until they both settled at 11 points each. Here, the Bobcats came alive, taking off on an electrifying 10-3 run to put them within a mere five points of victory. A kill from right-side hitter, and fellow senior, Georgia Tselepi, gave the Bobcats the set and match victory.   

Simply put, the Bobcats got the job done today and did so in front of a large crowd who poured into the Burt Khan Court in support of the team as well as its seniors.  

Each of the team’s six seniors provided major contributions to Sunday’s win. Baker led the team in kills with 14. Legg led the team in both total points, with 16, and blocks, with four. Nicole Migliozzi, a setter from Oakdale, NY, tallied a team-high 26 assists, creating numerous opportunities for her teammates to capitalize on the offensive end. Tselepi tacked on 12 points on ten kills and even added a service ace of her own. Libero Daniella Balsano captained the team defensively, tallying 19 digs over the game’s lifespan. Balsano put her body on the line multiple times for the sake of the team, laying out in attempt to save an ongoing volley.  

The Bobcats ended their homestand with a win while also sending off six seniors in the process. Quinnipiac volleyball will travel to New York next weekend for their final two games of the season, taking on Manhattan University on Saturday and Iona College on Sunday.  

While a birth in the MAAC playoffs is almost guaranteed for the Bobcats, Quinnipiac, led by junior outside hitter Aryanah Diaz, looks to gain some momentum in the coming weeks.