By Alex Mitchell – STAFF WRITER
Hofstra closed out the season’s final home match in the best way. The Pride swept the Fightin’ Blue Hens of the University of Delaware in three sets Monday night. Before the match commenced, there was a ceremony honoring two seniors of the Pride, Kaitlyn Krause and Corrina Delgadillo.
The veteran duo kept the spotlight on themselves during the match with personal bests. Delgadillo tied her career-high 27 digs on the night and Krause met a career-high eight kills.
“I thought she played great…she really just had a great day and really was able to stop the outside from the other side,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur on Delgadillo’s performance.
The three set scores were: 25-19, 25-22, and 25-23.
Neither side took a single play for granted without jeopardizing the outcome. The end of the second and third sets featured the longest and hardest-fought volleys. Once the score got tighter, Hofstra performed greater under pressure.
The third set was deadlocked at 21-21 until Krause sent down a kill. That put Hofstra on a 4-2 run which closed out the match.
“Delaware is a team that fights a lot they don’t just give it to us, they put up a very good fight and our team fought a lot as well,” Mansur said.
The seniors weren’t the only ones shining for Hofstra. Junior Veronika Kostova finished with 13 kills. She also added four digs and two blocks. As usual, sophomore Hannah Klemm had a strong assist performance with 48 against the Blue Hens. Sophomore Leticia Valente tallied 12 kills of her own, plus five digs and three blocks.
The freshmen Nanishka Perez and Michela Rucli did their part as well. Perez put up 17 digs while Rucli added nine kills and four blocks.
Hofstra has two road games left before the CAA Tournament starts up. The Pride will face Elon this Friday night at 7 p.m. Then, they’ll go up against College of William & Mary on Sunday. The Pride are a win away from back-to-back 20-win seasons.
