Gunes and Giusta Lead Bobcats Past Runnin' Bulldogs in Four Sets

Friday, September 8

Princess Anne, MD

10:00 AM

Quinnipiac University

3-4,0-0MAAC

Gardner-Webb

2-4,0-0Big South

Quinnipiac

Gardner-Webb

Photo by: Ephemia Nicolakis

Gunes and Giusta Lead Bobcats Past Runnin' Bulldogs in Four Sets

9/8/2023 12:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: QU Athletic Communications

PRINCESS ANNE, MD. – Leilani-kai Giusta set a new career-high in kills and Damla Gunes recorded her fourth double-double of the season to lead Quinnipiac past Gardner-Webb in four sets to open play at the Henson Hawk Invitational inside of the Hytche Athletic Center Friday morning.

Giusta led the match with a career-high 21 kills, while Damla Gunes added 41 assists and 14 digs for the double-double. Aryanah Diaz chipped in a team-best 16 digs in the win.

With the victory, Quinnipiac improved to 3-4 in the early campaign, while Gardner-Webb fell to 2-5 to begin its season.

LOCATION
Hytche Athletic Center | Princess Anne, MD.

Records
Quinnipiac Bobcats (3-4) | Gardner-Webb (2-5)

Quinnipiac 3, Gardner-Webb 1

SET ONE (25-17, Quinnipiac)
The two sides traded points to a 7-7 tie before Quinnipiac went on a 4-0 run to push ahead 11-7, forcing a Gardner-Webb timeout. Out of the break, Quinnipiac went on an 8-3 run to extend the lead to 19-10, forcing the Runnin' Bulldogs to burn their final timeout of the set.

The deficit proved to be too much for Gardner-Webb, as the Bobcats took the first set 25-17

SET TWO (12-25)
Gardner-Webb jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the second set, forcing a Quinnipiac timeout. After clawing back in the match trailing 10-8, the Runnin' Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 15-8 forcing QU to burn its final timeout of the set.

Gardner-Webb built its lead to as much as 20-10 before taking the set, 25-12

SET THREE (25-17)
The Bobcats bounced back early in the third set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead before Gardner-Webb called a timeout. The Bobcats did not let up, extending the lead to 16-7 before the Runnin' Bulldogs callerd their final timeout of the set. Gardner-Webb never recovered, as the Bobcats took the third set 25-17.

SET FOUR (25-23)
Gardner-Webb jumped out to a swift 4-0 lead before extending its lead to 10-5 to force a Quinnipiac timeout. Out of the break, Quinnipiac responded with a 7-2 run to knot the contest at 12-12 in the set. The two sides traded points to a 17-17 tie until a kill from Leilani-kai Giusta pushed QU ahead by one, forcing a timeout from the Runnin' Bulldogs.

With the score tied at 20-20, Giusta recorded a kill and a service ace, followed by a Gardner-Webb attack error to push QU ahead 23-20 before taking the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

NOTES:

Damla Gunes tallied 41 assists and 14 digs for a double-double
The double-double is the fourth of the season for Damla Gunes and her 10th of the season
With 41 assists, Damla Gunes has totaled 40 or more assists in three matches this season
Leilani-kai Giusta led Quinnipiac with a career-best 21 kills and added eight digs and four total blocks
Giusta has recorded 15 or more kills in four consecutive matches
Bailey Brashear contributed seven kills and five blocks
Aryanah Diaz led the Bobcats with 16 digs

NEXT UP
The Bobcats will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 8, when they continue play at the Henson Hawk Classic, as they will take on Hampton at 2 p.m.

FOLLOW US
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