By Bob Bonett
Sure, entering the season the Hofstra women’s volleyball team was expected to run away with the CAA. Even though Delaware had blown away their preseason competition, William & Mary had a solid team and Northeastern was expected to compete near the top of the conference, nobody was expected to challenge the Pride.
Three conference losses later, coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell and the Pride find themselves on the playoff bubble with making the conference postseason the ultimate goal.
However, shedding the role of heavy favorite for virtual underdog is a mantra Netherby-Sewell and the women are happy to take on.
“It’s kind of interesting, because we definitely had a target on our backs. The teams still definitely know from watching us and seeing the high points of our matches that we will be tough to beat,” Netherby-Sewell said. “It has relieved a little pressure off of us though, and I’d love to be the team that comes from behind.”
Granted, optimally, the women would be 7-0 in the conference cruising toward the postseason. However, a few injuries and starting lineup switches have made the season not quite as smooth sailing as Shellane Ogoshi, Lauren Engle, Amanda Beyersdorff and the team may have hoped.
That being said, following a big sweep of Towson on Sunday, it looks like the team is starting to gel as crunch time approaches.
The two players that have been instrumental in the team’s success of late have been Ogoshi, the team’s setter, and Beyersdorff, the team’s top outside hitter. Each of the women have faced different challenges this year with role changes over the past season.
“For Shellane, she’s had time away from the setter’s position so she’s had to get back in the groove of things, and immediately she is doing so well, changing our offense and picking up our defense,” Netherby-Sewell said. “For Amanda, we are starting to see a lot of desire out of her, because she really wants to win another championship.
Big names are not the only elements crucial to the team’s late season success, though. Talita Silva, coming off of a severe shoulder injury, has stepped up big of late in leading the team to two out of three wins last week, including a non-conference victory over Towson.
“I know what Talita can do; she’s a forced to be reckoned with when it comes to blocking,” Netherby-Sewell said. “She’s got the want and the experience, and when the pressure is really on I think she’ll come through for us.”
Moreover for the Pride (12-9, 4-3), when the team has stumbled and dropped a game, they have avoided the major blowout. When facing the conference’s current top team, Delaware, a few different breaks would have handed the Pride a win.
“What I’ve noticed is all of our numbers statistically have gone up, and though we’ve had a couple of tough losses, it’s a good sign when everything is improving,” Netherby-Sewell said. “Now it’s a matter of fixing on what’s going on between the ears and getting the confidence back up so we can be a little more poised in these matches.”
Nonetheless, hindsight is 20/20, and Hofstra will enter the home stretch of the season with the arduous task of earning a playoff spot late in the season.
However, although the task at hand may be simply making the playoffs, Netherby-Sewell knows that the team is capable of taking home another conference championship.
“If we get in, there is no doubt in my mind that we can win the championship,” Netherby-Sewell said, “because at that point we will be peaking, and a lot of these teams I think will be staying the same.”
The women are back in action Saturday for a home afternoon contest against one of the CAA’s top teams, Northeastern. They will then head on a short road trip next week as they take on Virginia Commonwealth and William & Mary.

Amanda Beyersdorff and Lauren Engle go up for the block as Katie Wilkerson looks on. (Sean M. Gates)