The Quinnipiac Bobcats defeated the Iona Gaels in straight sets on Halloween night to begin their home weekend series.
“I actually thought we played a really nice match. It was really clean and focused. I thought we executed well. A couple areas we could be a little bit better at, but I thought we stuck to the game plan, which it’s always important for me. So yeah, I thought it was good. I’m happy with it.” head coach Kyle Robinson said of the performance from his team
Early on, Quinnipiac looked to get Iona off of schedule with their strong serving, serving up seven aces total throughout the match.
“Yeah, you know, it’s one of our biggest priorities. We served a bunch at practice this week, if everything else fails, we better be able to serve someone off the court.” Robinson said of his team’s serving in this matchup.
In this matchup, experience and youthful energy showed up, as the experience of Quinnipiac senior outside hitter Ginevra Giovagnoni had another solid performance with 12 kills, and first year setter Klara Olszewska got some extended minutes in this MAAC matchup, holding her own throughout each opportunity.
“It’s just her finding comfortability on the court again, getting into a rhythm, a playing rhythm against real competition, instead of just in practice. So I thought it was really good.” Robinson said of Giavagnoni’s performance.
As for Olszewska, she enjoyed a solid performance with 4 assists, showing her improvements and her hard work throughout the season.
“I’ve seen her mature a bunch. She still has a lot of growth in her, but I like the direction she’s going.” Robinson said of Olszewska’s appearance tonight.
“I just want the first years to feel comfortable and accepted by everybody else and just having this family culture continue to grow.” Giovagnoni said of the additions of the first years
Overall, Quinnipiac controlled the game from start to finish, with 47 kills to Iona’s 28, also scoring many points with good ball movement, as the Bobcats had 43 assists total. Quinnipiac continued to show their strength of saving points, finishing the game with 68 digs, to Iona’s 56.
As Iona tried to make continuous runs and comebacks throughout each set, the Bobcats found crucial points to settle the nerves and continue to hold onto the lead. These particular points came from longer rallies, but also with powerful spikes from their heavy hitters.
The program understands that these games are very challenging, and each matchup presents new adversity, but for Coach Robinson, he still hopes his team can let loose, and be free, not just on the court, but off of it as well.
“Let’s enjoy this experience and not have them go like, I was there for four years, but I didn’t have any fun. You gotta make memories. Because by the time you’re my age, that’s all I’m living off of is memories.” Robinson said of what he hopes for his team in the future.
Next up for the Bobcats is a matchup against the Manhattan Jaspers on Burt Khan Court on Saturday. The game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
