By Felipe Fontes — STAFF WRITER
As the host of the weekend’s invitational, Hofstra made sure to leave a statement against the visiting Binghamton Bobcats in its home opener.
The Pride had won its previous six home openers, and was able to stretch that number to seven in a strong three set to zero victory Friday night in Hempstead.
This 3-0 sweep makes it the third sweep out of the last four matches in which the Pride have competed, while also winning six out of their last seven total.
Despite a mildly contested first set that ended 25-21, the Pride’s depth was put on display as the game stretched out into the final two stanzas.
A wide array of contributors seized the momentum and hardly allowed it to slip away for Hofstra as they handled each stanza more handedly than the one before, finishing the next two sets 25-18 and 25-16, respectively.
Newer faces such as Hanna Russell and Ana Martinovic played a significant role for the Pride.
“This is one thing that this team can bring, a balance, that we can sub people out and we can change and help get the job done, so that’s going to be a key thing for us to be healthy and strong until the end of conference play,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur.
Along with new faces, familiar faces came up big in unfamiliar roles.
Usual defensive ace Doris Bogoje was the leader for Hofstra in kills on the night, tallying 10, while still making her presence felt on the defensive end with four block assists.
“It was really exciting to see Doris being able to score so many points. She’s been a very good defensive player for us in terms of blocking, but today she found her offense, and it was an important factor to get our momentum going,” Mansur said.
In a night where production came from all over, the Italian duo made sure that they stayed in on the action, as both Laura Masciullo and Michela Rucli once again shined in front of the home crowd.
Namely, it was a slight of hand by Masciullo that stuck out in the midst of an astoundingly powerful offensive night.
As the Bearcats started crawling within reach in the first set, trailing the Pride 17-16, a heavily disputed back-and-forth play was finalized with a soft touch by Masciullo, resulting in the ball rolling a couple feet on top of the net and falling into Binghamton territory for the point.
The sly move by Masciullo seemed to be the turning point of the game, energizing not only the team, but also the large home crowd who were supporting the Pride in its home opener.
Whether it was the crowd the crowd that was feeding off the team or the other way around, it was clear that the energy in the building played a role in Hofstra’s enduring success.
“It’s so much fun to play in an environment like this. I love coaching this way, and I’m sure the team appreciates this very much,” said Mansur.
Although the Bearcats were not able to muster much offensively, Gabby Alicea still put up a solid showing, coming through with 13 kills to maintain her team scoring lead.
As the tournament continues, both teams will square off on Saturday, with Hofstra duking it out against Bryant at 10 a.m., and Binghamton going up against Syracuse at 1 p.m.
Hofstra will later face Syracuse at 7 p.m. to close out the invitational.
