Quinnipiac Heads to Western New York for Pair of Metro Matchups

Friday, October 16

Buffalo, NY

6:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Canisius

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Quinnipiac Heads to Western New York for Pair of Metro Matchups

10/15/2026 2:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Quinnipiac at Canisius
Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 | 6:00 PM
Buffalo, NY | Koessler Athletic Center
Watch | Live Stats

Quinnipiac at Niagara
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026 | 3:00 PM
Niagara University, NY | Gallagher Center
Watch | Live Stats

HAMDEN, CT – Quinnipiac women's volleyball readies for a road trip to Western New York this weekend, as the Bobcats are square off with Canisius (10/16) and Niagara (10/17) to continue Metro Conference action.

LAST TIME OUT: QU EARNS RESILLIENT WIN OVER MARIST (10/10)

The Quinnipiac women's volleyball team showed incredible resilience on Saturday afternoon at Burt Kahn Court, outlasting Marist in a thrilling five-set match (29-27, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12) to secure a crucial Metro Conference victory.
Sophia Minlend spearheaded the Bobcats' attack with 16 kills while adding 13 digs and a pair of blocks for a 19.5-point performance. The first-year Bobcat is up to 140 kills for the 2026 campaign.
Sahra Ozbiltekin turned in a stellar all-around match with 15 kills and 16 digs.
Klara Olszewska orchestrated the Quinnipiac offense, dishing out a match-high 56 assists alongside 9 digs. She ties her career-best mark for helpers, as Olszewska also registered 56 assists on 9/5/26 at Delaware State.

2026 STAT LEADERS

First-year outside hitter Giulia Ragusa leads Quinnipiac's attack with 182 kills (2.84 K/S) and 202.5 total points across 64 sets. Sahra Ozbiltekin follows with 165 kills (2.70 K/S) and 187.0 total points across 61 sets, while Sophia Minlend has added 140 kills (2.50 K/S) and 170.5 points across 56 sets.
Sophomore middle blocker Asia Belli leads the squad with a team-high .372 hitting percentage (116 K, 32 E, 226 TA). Junior Sila Yildiz provides efficient middle scoring as well, hitting .297 with 108 kills across 71 sets.
Sophomore setter Klara Olszewska directs the attack with a team-leading 453 assists (8.39 A/S), while first-year Bobcat Sophia Gisslen has dished out 235 assists (8.10 A/S) in 29 sets.
Olszewska leads the team with 17 service aces (0.31 SA/S), followed by Ragusa with 15 aces (0.23 SA/S) and Minlend with 14 aces (0.25 SA/S).
Defensive specialist Didar Bulbul anchors the dig total with 142 digs (2.09 D/S), followed closely by Sahra Ozbiltekin with 126 digs (2.07 D/S), Minlend with 117 digs (2.09 D/S), and Olszewska and Ragusa with 111 digs each.
Yildiz and Belli lead the blocking efforts at the net. Yildiz has accumulated a team-high 60 total blocks (21 solo, 39 assists; 0.85 B/S), while Belli has compiled 57 total blocks (10 solo, 47 assists; 0.80 B/S).

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

Three Bobcats have earned Metro Conference weekly awards so far this season.
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.
Klara Olszewska was tabbed Metro Setter of the Week on Oct. 13. She posted 98 total assists during the Bobcats' two conference contests this past week in Hamden. She registered 42 assists in QU's contest vs. Siena on Friday night, then helped power the Bobcats past Marist on Saturday with a 56-assist performance. She also recorded 17 digs and a pair of kills over the pair of conference games.

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.

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 103 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.