Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Kyle Levasseur
Senior Cody Michaels of the Quinnipiac volleyball team breaks down in post-game press conference when her little sister approached her with a sign.
It was a season of firsts for the Quinnipiac women’s volleyball team. This season marked the first time the program had a winning record (21-13) in Division I volleyball and it was the first time Quinnipiac ever clinched a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoff game.
The Bobcats didn’t just stop at making the playoffs, they won their first and second MAAC playoff matches, making it to the MAAC Championship game. However, Quinnipiac’s historic season ended after being defeated by top-seeded and back-to-back MAAC tournament champions, Fairfield, 3-0.
Quinnipiac started slow in each set, having to claw it’s way back. With Fairfield taking a 10-2 lead in the first set, 9-2 lead in the second set, and 13-6 lead in the third set, Quinnipiac’s resilience was tested throughout the match. It was most evident when the Bobcats denied four match points in a row in the third set, before ultimately falling 25-23.
Quinnipiac head coach Kris Czaplinski feels the difference in experience gave Fairfield the upper hand.
“(Fairfield’s) discipline level today was very effective against us. They’ve been here before many times so they know how to act, they know how to play at this level,” Czaplinski said. “For us, for our first time in the playoffs and how we responded in our first two games, I couldn’t be prouder of this team…In that third game today we played very well, we were within two points at the end so you know a lot of positives, a lot of silver linings on this year to look forward on to future years.”
Senior Cody Michaels finished the match with nine kills and thinks the resiliency of the team was clearly displayed.
“We fight back every time,” Michaels said. “Of course we don’t want to get in those holes, but we’re really good at getting out of them.”
Michaels exited her final collegiate game surpassing an impressive milestone of 1,000 career digs, becoming the third Bobcat to ever do so.
Sophomore Kat Miller led the team in kills with 11, and had 37 kills over three games in the playoffs. Miller, along with Maria Pansari who had 57 assists against Niagara, 43 assists against Marist, and 31 assists against Fairfield, represented Quinnipiac on the MAAC All-Tournament team.
Despite the loss, Pansari believes the program now has a winning culture.
“Now we know what it takes to be a champion, to win games,” Pansari said. “This program has been so used to losing, I know that sounds awful but it’s true, and now we know and we have the confidence that we can win and we can do it.”
The change in the program’s culture is due, in large part, to the senior class.
The Bobcats’ graduating class is made up of Michaels, Sam Alechko, Jamie Paolucci, Emma Ogden, Katie Urycki, and Jana Kmec. After setting a program high 21 wins this season, Czaplinski’s first recruiting class has definitely left their legacy on the program.
“They’re the reason why this program changed,” Czaplinski said. “They came in here, they stuck with it, and just them being vocal leaders, every single one of them and helping out the freshman, helping out the sophomores has been unbelievable. You can’t ask for more for what they did.”
Ogden said before the season started that the team used the preseason coaches polls (in which Quinnipiac was picked to finish ninth) as motivation.
“We’ve had a lot of losing the last three years that I’ve been here,” Ogden said. “So, I think just going out and changing the whole mentality, changing the culture of the program was probably our biggest goal.”
That goal was certainly achieved this season, and Michaels believes it was all worth it.
“It was the best season yet. It was everything – almost everything – we could have asked for,” Michaels said. “The work that we put in, the work that every single person put in on this team. The running, the upset days, it’s all worth it. I know it’s sad but it’s all worth it in the end.”
Fairfield will advance to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. Last season Fairfield lost in the first-round to national runner-up Texas, 3-0.
