The Quinnipiac volleyball team recorded its second MAAC loss of the season to the Niagara Purple Eagles in four sets at home, a devastating loss for a team with only one home loss last season.
The Bobcats struggled immensely, ending the game with 35 attack errors, while the Purple Eagles ended with just 13. Quinnipiac also struggled against Niagara’s blocks, with the Purple Eagles putting up 11 versus the Bobcats’ five.
“I thought it was an embarrassment for our program,” head coach Kyle Robinson said after the loss, “I think our fans deserve better and I need to spend a lot more time addressing some critical issues we have within our team.”
In the first set, the Bobcats struggled to hold onto a large lead, but they still ended up narrowly taking it by a score of 25-23 despite having as much as a seven point lead at one point. However, that would be the end of Quinnipiac’s good fortune for the day.
After dropping the second set, the third set is where things started to shift. Niagara quickly took control and they were leading by as many as 15 points on multiple occasions. They would take the set comfortably with a score of 25-10.
Excluding fifth sets, the last time the Bobcats lost a MAAC set, only scoring 10 points, was on October 29, 2022, against the Fairfield Stags on Burt Kahn Court.
“We showed a lack of caring and pride today,” Robinson said, “and that’s unacceptable on any Kyle Robinson team.”
In a surprising move to start the fourth set, Ginevra Giovagnoni subbed in as libero in her third match of the season, coming back from a season-ending injury last year.
“The thinking is our libero at the time Carola (Negron Diaz) was not doing her job very well, and we needed to find a solution,” Robinson said.
While the change gave the Bobcats a slight spark, it would not be enough as the set would end in a 25-18 win for Niagara as well as a match victory. Quinnipiac did not have more than a one-point lead past the second set and finished with 52 total errors compared to 32 against the Canisius Golden Griffins the day prior.
The Bobcats will look to bounce back on the road as they take on the Rider Broncs and Saint Peter’s Peacocks in New Jersey on Oct. 10 and 11, respectively.
