By Anders Jorstad – STAFF WRITER
If you haven’t been paying attention, you’ve been missing out. Hofstra volleyball is on a roll this season. Coming off a year where they made the NCAA tournament after winning the CAA title, the Pride lost a lot of top players and many may have expected this to be a rebuilding year of sorts.
Many of their losses were among their front-line scorers, as the Hofstra graduating class included Kelsie Wills – the all-time leader in kills in program history – Nuria Lopes Da Silva, Adama Aja and Emily Burke from the outside hitter and middle blocker positions. Wills, Da Silva and Burke were the top-three kills leaders last year and Aja was the team’s sound middle-blocker.
Now the Pride is led on the front line by a relatively young squad, including the likes of junior Veronika Kostova, sophomore Brianna Montgomery, sophomore Leticia Valente, freshman Michaela Rucli and freshman Nanishka Perez.
These players, combined with a strong returning back line, have led the Pride to a 17-9 record so far in 2015. Plus, an 8-3 conference record, which is good for fourth place in the Colonial Athletic Association.
I had a chance to sit down and talk to Nanishka Perez, one of Hofstra’s very reliable attackers and a new addition to the squad this season.
Perez, a native of Puerto Rico, said, “I started playing volleyball when I was seven years old. My mom was a volleyball player, so she kind of got me into this.” Perez, who was also a swimmer, preferred volleyball to all the other sports Puerto Rico offered. “I didn’t really like the other sports like basketball. They weren’t for me,” she said.
Volleyball has certainly been a forte for the Hofstra outside hitter during her rookie campaign. Perez is third on the team in kills with 241 so far this season, just behind junior Kostova (374) and sophomore Valente (313).
Perez said that her decision to come to Hofstra was at least partially influenced by the fact that other players at her position were graduating and leaving open spots in the lineup, “Then I know I can be a possible player [early on].”
Perez makes a mark on the stat sheet in more than just kills though, as the well-rounded outside hitter also has 14 assists on the season – fourth on the roster and first among players at her position.
In addition to her offensive skills, she gets involved on the defensive end with 171 digs – fifth on the team and 101 more than the next player at her position – as well as 53 total blocks, which is fourth-best on the team.
When asked how she prepares herself to get so involved in games, she said, “Just in practice, [I] give it [my] all and just work on the stuff I need to fix and bring that to the game.”
For Perez, having so many skilled teammates beside her has helped her to get better. “I think everyone [challenges me to be a better player]. They’re always there to push me, especially the [outside hitters]. Since I’m the same position, they push me more.”
Perez has a lot of other teammates who are also making big strides in their first year with the Pride, including Mississippi State transfer and middle blocker Leticia Valente, freshman libero Luisa Domingues and freshman middle blocker Michaela Rucli.
The four of them should form a solid core for Hofstra to build upon their experience this season and going forward. Perez’s teammates have been very important to her, as she notes her favorite thing about playing for Hofstra so far has “definitely [been] playing with [her] teammates.”
“We’re just going hard,” Perez said. “We’re going to try to win everything and just be the champions.”
