By Rachael Bentley

The Blue Devils defeated the Quinnipiac Bobcats in three sets this Sunday, making this its fourth straight win of the season and bringing its Northeast Conference play to 6-1.

The players struggled to hit their groove during the first five points of the first set, but after a strong comeback by their passing, they were able to take control of the court and defeat Quinnipiac 25-16.

Volleyball Coach Linda Sagnelli explained that the game was “a Central kind of game”.

“Today we wanted them to take control of the tempo of the match,” explained Sagnelli.  “After the first five points in the first set we got our rhythm going and then we took command of the match. Our passing started off all over the place, and Makenna (Lommori) couldn’t get in system, but once we got in system, I feel it was the offense that took over. But it was because of the first pass.”

On offense, Senior Blaike King led the team with eight kills, with Senior Jamie Rademacher close behind with seven kills. Emily Cochran and Rachel Dunlap each had six. The Blue Devils posted a team hitting percentage of .329 for the match.

Makenna Lommori  assisted on 29 of the team’s 33 kills in the match, which Sagnelli attributes to the team’s great passing.

“Passing is the name of the game,” said Sagnelli. “If you can’t pass, you can’t play. I think all of the passers did a great job of settling down, taking a deep breath and saying ‘okay, we got this, not let’s do it.’ As they settled down the offense started clicking and Makenna did her thing. It all just worked.”

According to Sagnelli, the team’s main focus during Sundays game was to work on tempo after a tough match against Bryant that made the Blue Devils work hard for their win.

“I think the team is doing a great job,” said Sagnelli.  “The team focus was great and the energy was phenomenal. It was a hard hitting and great defensive match but you could see we had that edge to us.”

The team has improved with each week, thanks to the small group work that they do every  Tuesday and Wednesday. When each player develops as a player it makes the team stronger, according to Sagnelli.

If the team continutes playing the way it did on Sunday, Sagnelli thinks their chances at winning the NEC championship are high. The team is scheduled to play division leader LIU Brooklyn away on Sunday.

                                                   Rachael Bentley-The Recorder

CCSU Blue Devils won its fourth straight game Sunday