Fairfield, CONN – The Bobcats started off conference play right with a dominant 3-1 road win against the Sacred Heart Pioneers.
The night was especially memorable for Bobcats’ setter Damla Gunes as she broke the Quinnipiac Division I all-time assist record. Gunes now has a total of 3,443 assists and will only build on that throughout her senior season.
Set one started off great for the Bobcats as they consistently held a four-to-five-point lead for the entire set. With the trio of outside hitters of Leilani-kai Giusta, Yagmur Gunes and Elena Giacomini making up 13 of the 15 kills, it made it extremely difficult for the Pioneers to escape the barrage of swings coming at them.
The second set seemed like a different ball game; the Pioneers got into gear and held on in a tight 25-22 loss. The two teams battled it out the entire time; the Pioneers only went down four points once in this set. After going back and forth, crawling and scratching for each point, the Bobcats took it after a serving error from Pioneers’ Ryleigh Short and they went up 2-0 in the match.
Another highlight from the second set was the long-awaited appearance of Quinnipiac’s outside hitter Ginevra Giovagnoni. Giovagnoni is coming off of a serious injury that sidelined her for the majority of the 2024-25 season, but looked healthy and ready to play today.
Quinnipiac’s head coach Kyle Robinson, spoke about the process of getting her back in action consistently. “She’s slowly been working her way back, she got cleared to some things tonight, do some more tomorrow,” but he made sure to stress that it’s about supporting her and when she’s ready to get back out there “a lot of it has to do with her comfort level and if she just keeps progressing in the right way”.
Seeing Giovagnoni on the court is a major highlight for any Quinnipiac Volleyball fan.
If the second set seemed like a different ball game, then the third looked like a brand new sport. The Bobcats struggled in this set as they found themselves down almost the entire time.
Every time the Bobcats had momentum and would get within one point or tie it, the Pioneers would take the life out of their play and pull right back in front. The set ended 26-24 in an extremely close and thrilling finish with everyone in the gym on the edge of their seats, whether they were waiting on a nail-biter of a set to end or Damla to break the record.
The Bobcats were able to find some rhythm in the end of the third set and were able to use that to their advantage as they opened up a 10-0 lead early in the fourth. From there it was smooth sailing as 5 different Bobcats had kills in a dominant 25-12 set win to take a 3-1 victory over the Pioneers.
Quinnipiac will look to continue the strong conference play as they take a trip back down I-95 to the Leo D. Mahoney Arena to take on the Fairfield Stags later tonight at 4 p.m
