Bobcats Set for Pair of Metro Matchups at Fairfield and Sacred Heart

Friday, October 2

Fairfield, CT

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Fairfield

Sophia Minlend vs. Merrimack During 2026 Home Opener (9/29/26 in Hamden, CT)

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Bobcats Set for Pair of Metro Matchups at Fairfield and Sacred Heart

10/1/2026 8:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Friday Night's Contest at Fairfield Televised Live on SNY

By: QU Athletic Communications

Quinnipiac vs. Fairfield
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 | 7:00 PM
Fairfield, CT | Leo D. Mahoney Arena
TV: SNY | Watch: ESPN+ | Live Stats

Quinnipiac vs. Sacred Heart
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 | 6:00 PM
Fairfield, CT | William H. Pitt Athletic Center
Watch: ESPN+ | Live Stats

HAMDEN, CT – Quinnipiac women's volleyball readies for a big weekend of Metro action, traveling to a pair of in-state rivals to continue the league slate.

The Bobcats begin the weekend by traveling to Fairfield on Friday night for a contest broadcasted live on SNY. Quinnipiac then travels to Sacred Heart to close out the weekend with a 6:00 PM contest.

LAST TIME OUT: BOBCATS DOWN MERRIMACK IN HOME OPENER (9/29)

The Quinnipiac women's volleyball team earned its second conference victory of the season on Tuesday afternoon, outlasting Merrimack in a thrilling five-set match (19-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 15-6) at Burt Kahn Court.
Sophia Minlend headlined the Bobcats' attack, hammering down a team-high 14 kills on a .312 hitting percentage while adding nine digs and three service aces.
Klara Olszewska orchestrated the offense, posting a match-high 44 assists to go along with 14 digs.

2026 STAT LEADERS

Senior outside hitter Giulia Ragusa leads Quinnipiac's attack with 138 kills (2.82 K/S) and 154.0 total points across 49 sets. Sophomore Sahra Ozbiltekin follows closely behind with 130 kills (2.77 K/S) and 147.5 total points, while Sophia Minlend has added 105 kills (2.50 K/S) and 126.5 points.
Junior middle blocker Asia Belli leads the squad with a team-high .360 hitting percentage (88 K, 26 E, 172 TA). Graduate student Sila Yildiz provides efficient middle scoring as well, hitting .295 with 82 kills.
Graduate setter Klara Olszewska directs the attack with a team-leading 305 assists (7.82 A/S), while junior setter Sophia Gisslen has dished out 235 assists (8.10 A/S).
Olszewska leads the team with 13 service aces (0.33 SA/S), followed by Ragusa and Minlend who have registered 11 aces each.
Redshirt sophomore libero Carola Negron Diaz anchors the back-row defense with 104 digs (2.42 D/S). Ozbiltekin contributes 92 digs (1.96 D/S), while defensive specialist Didar Bulbul has scooped up 90 digs (1.70 D/S).
Yildiz leads the blocking efforts at the net with 49 total blocks (15 solo, 34 assists; 0.88 B/S). Belli provides strong front-row defense alongside her, accumulating 41 total blocks (8 solo, 33 assists; 0.73 B/S).

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

A pair of first-year Bobcats have earned Metro Rookie of the Week honors already this year.
Giulia Ragusa earned the weekly award on Sept. 8 after her performance at the DSU Invitational. Ragusa finished the non-conference tournament hosted at Delaware State with 35 kills over three contests. She also registered 16 digs for the Bobcats. Ragusa recorded 31 kills on the final day of tournament action with 19 against DSU, then 12 more in a win vs. NJIT. She posted a .394 attack percentage over those two games.
Sophia Minlend was then named Rookie of the Week for the league on Sept. 29 after posting consecutive double-doubles to begin Metro action. Minlend registered 27 kills and 28 digs in total. The Berlin, Germany native recorded 16 kills and 17 digs in Friday's league opener at Iona, then posted 11 kills and 11 digs in the Bobcats' win over Manhattan on Saturday. She finished the weekend with 3.38 kills per set, and 3.50 digs per set.'

GISSLEN SETS NEW SINGLE-GAME ASSISTS RECORD

Setter Sophia Gisslen directed the offense with a record-setting day on Sept. 20 vs. Binghamton. She registered 63 total assists, breaking the program's all-time single-game record that was previously set by Kayla Lawler in 2010 (61 assists). Gisslen tallied 16 assists in the third set, and 17 during the fourth set of action.

SCOUTING FAIRFIELD

Fairfield enters at 9-5 overall (3-0 in Metro action). The reigning league champions defeated Sacred Heart in five sets during their latest contest.
Quinnipiac is 2-2 against Fairfield over the last four meetings. The Bobcats and Stags split a pair of regular season meetings in 2025.
Mamie Krubally leads the team with 147 kills, while Emma Bortolotti is up to 144 kills.
Zofia Sykut has dished out 370 assists to help direct the attack.
The Stags lead all Metro teams in hitting percentage (.249).

SCOUTING SACRED HEART

The Pioneers are 9-6 overall so far in 2026, winning two of their first three Metro Conference games of the year.
Quinnipiac has taken three of the last four meetings between the two teams.
SHU is led by Lauren Hubert, who has 217 kills already this seasons.
Addy Franz has 504 assists already, which ranks second in the conference.
Sacred Heart has 122 service aces, a number that leads all Metro teams and ranks fifth nationally.

MEET THE 2026 BOBCATS

Key returners for the Bobcats in 2026 include junior Carola Negron Diaz, and sophomores Asia Belli and Vittoria Tonelli.
Carola Negron Diaz finished second on the team with 344 digs last year as a sophomore, averaging 3.41 digs per set. She also tallied 123 assists and 23 service aces. Diaz posted 25.0 points from the libero position. She also tallied 20+ digs in three different contests.
Asia Belli started 30 matches for the Bobcats during her first season in Hamden. She recorded 136 kills and finished fourth on the team with 62 total blocks. Belli added 34 service aces, 63 digs and 207.0 total points.
Vittoria Tonelli appeared in 23 matches as a first-year Bobcat in 2025, finishing fourth on the team with 126 kills. She also tallied 113 digs and 14 blocks. Tonelli registered a season-high 14 kills vs. Sacred Heart on 10/25/25.
Quinnipiac has 13 total student-athletes on its 2026 roster, including seven newcomers (Veronica Patti, Farah Sherif, Sophia Gisslen, Giulia Ragusa, Sophia Minlend, Didar Bulbul, Sila Yildiz).
The Bobcats represent seven different countries in total. Quinnipiac volleyball has four student-athletes from Italy, four from Turkey, one from Poland, one from Egypt, one from Germany, one from Puerto Rico and one from the United States.

HEAD COACH KYLE ROBINSON

Reigning league Coach of the Year Kyle Robinson enters his eighth season at the helm of the Quinnipiac volleyball program in 2026. Robinson, Quinnipiac volleyball's all-time winningest coach, has guided the Bobcats to 102 total wins during 7+ years.
He led the Bobcats to a conference title & NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022, and was recently named the league's Coach of the Year in 2025 after leading Quinnipiac to 19 wins.
Robinson and the Bobcats have posted three consecutive seasons with a winning overall record.

BOBCATS SELECTED NO. 2 IN PRESEASON CONFERENCE POLL

The Quinnipiac women's volleyball program has been selected second overall in the 2026 Metro Preseason Coaches' Poll, as revealed by the league office on Thursday, Aug. 20.
The Bobcats (127 points) finished just behind Fairfield (142 points) for the top overall spot. Quinnipiac earned one first-place vote in the preseason poll.

2026 Metro Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1	Fairfield	142 (10)
2	Quinnipiac	127 (1)
3	Rider	110 (1)
4	Canisius	101
5	Niagara	81
6	Siena	80
7	Sacred Heart	77
8	Marist	62
9	Iona	55
10	Merrimack	48
11	Saint Peter's	28
12	Manhattan	25

2026 METRO VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2026 Metro Volleyball Championship will feature a six-team, single-elimination format and is scheduled for November 17-23. The first-round match will be hosted by the higher seed on Tuesday, November 17. The semifinals and championship final will be hosted by the No. 1 seed and played on consecutive dates, with the schedule determined by the host institution between Friday, November 20 and Monday, November 23. For more information regarding the 2026 Metro Volleyball Championship, please visit here.

LAST YEAR (2025)

Quinnipiac enjoyed another successful season in 2025, posting a 19-12 overall record and a 16-2 mark in conference play. The Bobcats earned the No. 2 seed in the Championship after posting one of the best conference records in program history.
QU advanced to the Semifinals for the fourth time under Robinson. Quinnipiac closed the regular season on a high note with a five-set comeback victory over Canisius and continued its run as one of the conference's premier programs.
A trio of Bobcats were named to the All-Conference First Team: Damla Gunes, Elena Giacomini, and Yagmur Gunes.