With a sweep over North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the Hofstra University volleyball team advanced to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship round of the CAA Tournament on Friday, Nov. 21. The win set up the Pride to face Campbell University in the Championship, where Hofstra looked to go dancing for the first time since 2018.
The Pride came into the CAA Tournament holding the top seed in the conference, after being crowned Co-CAA Regular Season Champions. Hofstra earned a first-round bye, while the Aggies knocked out a CAA powerhouse in the College of Charleston in the quarterfinals round.
Last season, the two teams clashed in the quarterfinals round of the tournament, where the Pride convincingly swept the Aggies to advance to the semifinals round. This year, the Aggies suffered a similar fate with the strength of the Pride’s offense.
The Pride put up a balanced offensive attack, led by Beatriz Braga, Izadora Stedile and Constanza Perez Sain, who all contributed double-digit kills. Clara Bal provided a spark plug off the bench with eight kills, which pushed her past the 1000 career kill mark.
The Pride were clean on the offensive attack, hitting at a .405 rate on the day, led by Perez Sain, who put up a .667 rate, and Braga, who attacked at .500.
Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur managed her setters through a platoon rotation. Freshman Nina Jioshvili-Ravva, who earned CAA Setter of the Year, contributed 23 assists, while sophomore Ellie Pamatat came off the bench and set up 15 good attacks.
The Pride’s defense held strong against a top offense in the CAA, holding the Aggies to just a .130 hitting percentage. N.C. A&T’s offense made 17 attacking errors and three service errors, while Hofstra only made six attacking errors.
Early in the first set, the Pride and Aggies exchanged blows until Braga started a 12-2 run to take a commanding lead in the first set. Braga was spectacular, contributing seven kills to lead the Pride to a 25-13 set victory.
The second set was more tightly contested. Both teams vied for a lead early, but the Pride could not grab onto control until they broke away at a 12-12 tie and capitalized on back-to-back Aggie errors. Hofstra swung the momentum in their favor and finished out the set on three consecutive points, to take a 25-17 set two victory.
Looking to keep their tournament championship hopes alive, the Aggies fought in their best set of the day. The Aggies held an early four-point lead thanks to a 5-0 run produced by a kill from CAA First-teamer Tyne Ross. Mansur called a time out, which proved dividends, as the Pride were able to find an answer following the break and tie the match at 13 a piece.
Late in the third set, in an 18-18 tie, Stedile and Perez Sain helped give the Pride a two-point advantage. The Aggies got a point back via a Pride service error.
The Pride closed out the match on a 5-1 run, including kills from Julia Amorim, Braga and two from Bal to close the door on N.C. A&T’s season.
The Pride looked for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven seasons against the Fighting Camels on Saturday, Nov. 22. First serve from the SECU Arena was scheduled for 7 p.m.
