By Ed Morrone

CONFERENCE CALL

After starting the season with a 9-5 non-conference record, the Pride will be put to the test in the coming CAA play. The Pride’s first game is Wednesday at Delaware. From here, the Pride plays its final 14 matches against conference opponents.

Last season, the team tallied an 8-6 conference record and upset top-seeded Towson in the CAA championship semifinals before losing to George Mason in the final. The Pride has an all-time record of 93-31 against current conference opponents, with only The College of William & Mary having a winning record against the team.

FIRST THING’S FIRST

After its two wins last week, the Pride improved to an unbelievable 65-7 (.903) when winning the first game in the match.

AWARDS AND MILESTONES

Pride sophomore middle blocker Elizabeth Curley was named CAA Co-Player of the Week after helping lead her team to a 2-0 record in the past week. Curley was nothing short of spectacular, notching 32 kills in 44 attempts (a .659 hitting percentage). For the season, Curley leads the team with a .391 hitting percentage, 70 blocks and 26 service aces. Another significant milestone was reached this past week by Pride coach Fran Kalafer, who added career victories number 578 and 579 to her long line of success. Kalafer is hovering around the top-ten in all-time wins, but it may take time to catch UCLA coach Andy Banachowski, who is the winningest active coach with 970 career victories.

MORE HOME COOKING

The Pride’s current five-game home win streak is the longest such streak since it won nine straight during the 2002 season. The streak is also the longest to start a season since the 1998 team, which won 11 straight to open the year.

NASSAU BESTS QUEENS

The Pride defeated St. John’s Red Storm on Wednesday, retaining the third annual Queens-Nassau Cup.