By Bob Bonett

With conference play inching closer for the Pride, Tuesday’s rivalry game against the St. John’s Red Storm served as good preparation for a high-intensity game that brought packed stands and plenty of hype. However, after an early mental miscue, and perhaps a substantial amount of intimidation, volleyball failed to ever hit a groove in the sixth annual Queens-Nassau Cup.

Mired in the middle of a four-game losing streak, Hofstra’s rivalry game may have simply shown up on the schedule at the wrong time for Coach Lauren Netherby’s girls. With seemingly endless early season traveling and top Division I opponents, L Shellane Ogoshi and the rest of the team looked out of their zone on the court, failing to ever hit some sort of groove against the Storm in a 3-0 sweep.

Essentially, the series was lost moments after the first serve. Dug quickly into a 3-0 hole in the first game, Hofstra (5-5, 0-0) was whistled for being out of formation prior to the St. John’s serve. The error was one of many mental mistakes the Pride succumbed to throughout the match.

“Tonight we just didn’t show up to play,” Netherby said. “You need to be tough to compete down the road in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think we may have just been a little intimidated by the top-25 ranking,” she added.

The route would continue in game one sinking the Pride into a deep 20-3 hole, and inevitably, an embarrassing 30-13 defeat in the first game.

A quick fix after the first game, though, brought some semblance of competitiveness to the match in Game 2. One of St. John’s imposing middles, Latoya Blunt (six kills), tallied three uncontested kills and four total points in the first game of the match. Coming out of the huddle for the second game, Netherby and the girls game-planned to try to slow down Blunt’s attack.

“We knew she was a big factor in their winning, so we tried to focus on blocking in the middle,” OH Lauren Engle said.

The strategic change appeared to put Hofstra, who has now lost three consecutive matches to the Storm (11-2, 0-0), in position to make a move on SJU. Tied at nine and only down four late in the match, 19-23, it looked like the Pride had a chance to even the match at one game apiece. However, mentally, the Storm’s persistence was simply too much.

“The fact that [St. John’s] players think a little more than some of the other players we have played against helped them out a lot,” Ogoshi said.

In a 2-0 hole, a sense of urgency seemed to overwhelm the Pride, as they managed to come out firing in the third game. Up 6-4 early, Hofstra fell into a rut, with a series of attack errors placing St. John’s in the driver’s seat, up 14-10.

However, Hofstra refused to simply hand the Storm a sweep.

First, outside hitters Amanda Beyersdorff and Engle began pinpointing their kills at will, sending balls down the line that were unplayable for St. John’s. Then, for the first time the entire match, the Pride’s defense at the net stepped up, slowing down SJU stalwart Hui Ping Huang (eight kills) who had not been contained earlier in the match. Beyersdorff, specifically, came away with two great blocks late in the third game, one on Huang and one on Wioleta Keszczynska, and the Pride found itself well within striking distance, down 26-23.

However, despite the efforts of, among others, Engle (12 kills), Beyersdorff (six kills) and Ogoshi (18 assists, 13 digs), the mental strengths of SJU, which Hofstra’s star libero alluded to, were well to much to overcome. Hofstra appeared to be rusty throughout the match, often failing to capitalize on any sustained rallies, while the Storm played consistently, like a well-oiled machine, rarely making any sort of errors.

The loss for the Pride enabled the Queens-Nassau Cup to stay in Queens for yet another year. Netherby mentioned that the trouncing this year and last year were a new theme for the rivalry.

“St. John’s is a terrific team right now, competing with the best of the best,” Netherby said. “We didn’t lose badly to a bad team, but we could have shown up and played a better match.”

The team remains optimistic though, specifically Ogoshi, whose goal as a senior is to be named an All-American libero, and for the team to win the CAA championship again.

Hofstra is next in action on the court Friday and Saturday at the University of Connecticut for the UConn Toyota Classic. They then open up CAA play on Sept. 22 at Northeastern University.

Harmonie Calinda and the Pride couldn’t solve the fluidity and consistency of an intimidating Red Storm attack. (Athletic Department)