By Rob Pelaez – STAFF WRITER
Five days before the CAA Tournament kicks off for volleyball, the Hofstra Pride won their 21st match of the year downing the College of William & Mary, 3 sets to 1.
Led once again by junior phenom Veronika Kostova with 23 kills, the Pride was able to down the Tribe for the second time this season. Another junior, Hannah Klemm, was setting up her teammates endlessly, resulting in an astonishing 61 assists in the match.
Hofstra also got some good support from their freshmen; both Nanishka Perez and Michaela Rucli both had double-figure days posting up a combined 30 kills, and Luisa Domingues and Corrina Delgadillo anchored the back line, tacking on 17 digs apiece.
Set scores for the match were 25-21, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-20. The first set was all Hofstra, who led the set from start to finish. The Tribe made a little run down the stretch, but Kostova provided the kill to halt the rally, and win the set for the Pride.
William & Mary came out red-hot in the second set, running out to a 6-0 lead early. The Pride battled back, and led 23-22 late in the set, but the Tribe rattled off three consecutive points to even the match up at one set apiece.
But that would be the last time the Tribe would hold the lead in the match, as Hofstra went wire-to-wire in the final two sets, never surrendering the lead. Senior Kaitlyn Krause, playing in her last regular season match, had the deciding kill as the Pride clinched the fourth set, and the match.
Hofstra finished the regular season at 21-10. William & Mary dropped to 10-19 on the year, with a 4-12 CAA record.
With the win, Hofstra also earns a share of the CAA regular season title, matching Towson, James Madison, and UNCW with 12-4 records in conference play. The share of the regular season title is Hofstra’s first since 2006, in which the team made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Looking forward to the CAA Tournament next weekend, Hofstra will be the #4 seed taking on the #5 seed College of Charleston. In their two meetings this year, the Pride has beaten the Cougars on both occasions, with a combined 6-2 set record. If they win, Hofstra would go on to play the hosts of the tournament, JMU, who is the only conference opponent Hofstra has not beaten this year.
