The Hofstra University volleyball team remained undefeated with their 3-0 sweep of UNC-Wilmington on Friday, Sept. 19, for their Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) opener. Hofstra has won eight straight games to open their season, their best start since 1988. This is the fourth time in program history that the Pride have started a season with an 8-0 record. The Seahawks fell to 1-9 overall and picked up their first conference loss.
Hofstra stayed hot throughout the entire match. They took the Seahawks 25-14 in the first set. The Pride’s defense stood strong and only allowed two kills against them. The Seahawks pulled ahead, but the Pride rallied back with an 11-point run to take a convincing lead. Julia Amorim finished the comeback with a service ace to cap off the victory.
The Pride outlasted the Seahawks in the second set, winning 25-19. Izadora Stedile added six kills and a service ace in the set. Hofstra had 18 kills in the second set overall.
The third set started as a back-and-forth match. The score was tied at eight apiece until the Pride went on an 8-2 scoring run, started by a Stedile kill. The Pride used this rally to push to the end and keep an undefeated record with a huge 25-15 win in the final set.
The Pride completely dominated the Seahawks all over the floor, putting up 67 points to the Seahawks’ 27. Hofstra notched 43 kills to UNC-Wilmington’s 19.
Hofstra had 13 service aces on the day, five of them coming from Nina Jioshvili-Ravva. The freshman also stepped into the role as the primary setter and led the Pride with 37 assists.
The Pride had a hitting percentage of 0.318% to the Seahawks’ 0.036%, with the offense exploding in the second set with 18 kills and an attack percentage of 0.485%.
The Pride also took care of business on the defensive side of things with seven blocks and 38 digs.
CAA Rookie of the Week Amorim continued her defensive prowess, leading the team in blocks with seven. The Pride have stepped up their blocking game as of late. Against Temple University, the Pride blocked 20 attacks and continued to build against the Seahawks.
Stedile led the strike against the Seahawks with a double-double, accumulating 18 kills and 16 digs across three sets. Stedile added two service aces and two assists on the day.
Constanza Perez Sain played a large role in the offensive explosion, putting up 10 kills.
The Pride looked to stay perfect in their second match against UNC-Wilmington at the David S. Mack Physical Education Building on Saturday, Sept. 20. Match time was set for 3 p.m.
