By Chris McLaughlin
The CCSU Volleyball (6-14, 3-5 NEC) team defeated NEC division rival, the Quinnipiac Bobcats in a sweep of three sets to zero on Oct. 23.
The match took place in front of a raucous crowd who came out to show their support for the Dig!Pink breast cancer awareness event hosted by the CCSU team.
“The crowd was really into it today,” said Head Coach Linda Sagnelli. “The girls really fed off the crowd. It was a great atmosphere for volleyball.”
The Blue Devils won topped the Bobcats with sets of 25-18, 25-21, and 25-21 respectively.
CCSU won the first set by playing much more efficiently than the Bobcats. The Blue Devils posted a kill percentage of .265, which was significantly higher than the Bobcats .088.
Emily Cochran led the way with six kills while Amanda Bayer single-handedly had more assists than the Bobcats 12 to 10. Danielle Gasser had an impressive string of serves including an ace that helped put the Bobcats down for the set.
“Danielle had great command of her serve,” said Sagnelli “Not just great strength but great accuracy; she really hit her spots and did an outstanding job causing them trouble.”
The Blue Devils picked up the second set right where they left off and quickly pulled ahead. The effort the Blue Devils put in on serves paid off, causing the Bobcats to make four serving errors during the second set. The Bobcats had difficulty setting up their offense during the second match up, which created a lot of opportunities for CCSU’s attackers.
The second game saw CCSU almost double the amount of attacks from Quinnipiac 50-32. CCSU was able to score on 14 of them which also almost doubled the kills of Quinnipiac.
The Blue Devils had three players with four kills, and for the second straight set Amanda Bayer had more assists than the entire Bobcat team.
“We were able to put a lot of pressure on them,” said Sagnelli. “We noticed they had trouble shifting from defense to swing so we kept pressing them and luckily we were able to execute.”
CCSU kept up the pressure for the third and final set and were able to close out the match with a sweep. CCSU was able to build a large lead, that at one point saw them up 20-10, but the Bobcats never gave up and clawed their way back into the game.
The Bobcats appeared on the verge of a comeback until Stephanie Biediger hit one of her serves directly into the net. The error gave the team the momentum needed to help close out the match.
CCSU managed to get more kills, assists, and digs than the Bobcats, but their unforced errors nearly came back to haunt them.
Emily Cochran once again led the way with four kills and Kaitlin Petrella had seven digs, including some acrobatic diving ones that got the crowd on its feet.
“It was a great win; we showed a ton of emotion and energy, and the crowd was wonderful,” said Sagnelli.
For the second time in three years CCSU volleyball team hosted the Dig!Pink event. In addition to both family and friends, all of CCSU’s athletic teams showed up to support both the event.
The Blue Devils go back on the road this week when they play at Bryant on Wednesday, but will return home for a pair of games next weekend.
