The Hofstra University volleyball team dropped their second straight match, falling to Coastal Carolina University 3-1 in four sets on Friday, Sept. 6, from Memorial Gymnasium in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Hofstra was led by Izadora Stedile with 15 kills and nine digs. Clara Bal added 12 kills, four digs and six assists. Beatriz Braga provided her first double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs.
Jalyn Stout was dominant for Coastal Carolina, finishing with a game-high 20 kills and recording 17 assists and 14 digs. Agata Lesiak and Emily Fowler added 12 kills apiece.
The Pride jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead after kills from Iyanna Garvin, Stedile and Bal to open up the first set. The Chanticleers fought their way back, regaining the lead 10-9 after Stout’s third kill of the set.
Stedile evened the score with a kill, before Constanza Perez Sain broke the tie with the first of three service aces in the set, with the other two coming on back-to-back points to give Hofstra a 21-20 lead. Coastal Carolina closed out on a 5-1 run, taking advantage of three errors from Hofstra, winning the set 25-22.
Hofstra’s struggles continued into the start of the second set, falling behind 6-2 in large part due to four errors.
Trailing 9-6, the Pride ran off five straight points to regain the lead as Perez Sain contributed two kills during that stretch. Both teams traded points back and forth before Coastal Carolina broke a 19-19 tie with a service ace from Stout. Following a time out from Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur, the Pride locked in to take six of nine points, winning the second set 25-23.
Coming out of the break, Coastal Carolina took control of the third set, taking a 5-1 lead and continuing to put the pressure back on the Pride. Hofstra answered right back with a 6-1 run of their own. Bal tied the score with a pair of service aces before Perez Sain gave her side a 7-6 lead.
The Pride slowly built momentum, pulling ahead 19-15 for their largest lead of the afternoon. But the Chanticleers flipped a switch, going on a 10-3 run to storm ahead of Hofstra and take the third set 25-22.
The match remained tightly contested well into the fourth set as neither team led by more than three.
With the score locked at 14-14 in the fourth set, the Pride couldn’t find a rhythm, committing six errors down the stretch. Stout put Coastal Carolina on her back with four straight kills and an assist to set up match point before taking the final set 25-22 as well.
Coastal Carolina picked up their first win of the season to improve to 1-3. The Chanticleers finish their time at the Cavalier Classic with matches against the University of Virginia over the weekend.
With the loss, the Pride dropped their first match of the Cavalier Classic for a 2-2 record for the season. They played the final match of the invitational against University of Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 7, at noon.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Keith Lucas/Sideline Media
