Just one day after defeating the Naval Academy 3-1, the Hofstra University volleyball team concluded their 2024 Wake Forest Invitational with a 3-1 defeat to the hands of the West Virginia University Mountaineers on Sunday, Sept. 1.
After the first weekend of the 2024 volleyball season, both Hofstra and West Virginia are 2-1.
The Pride were positioned to defeat the Mountaineers for most of the first set, beginning with an ace from Izadora Stedile, Hofstra either led or tied until the 19-point mark. Some back-and-forth action occurred over the next six serves, but a service error from Chiara Cucco kept the ball in West Virginia’s possession for the remainder of the first set. An error from Clara Bal and a kill from the Mountaineers’ Laila Ibrahim gave West Virginia the first set 25-22.
West Virginia held the lead for most of the second set. The Pride only held the lead for one serve, at the 18-17 mark on an error from West Virginia’s Lauren DeLo, which was quickly taken away after a service error from Stedile. The Mountaineers won 25-22, with nine of their points coming from Hofstra errors and another two from a pair of bad sets by Alves.
After struggling in the first two sets, the Pride found themselves in the lead beginning of the third set with an Iyanna Garvin kill to put Hofstra up 4-3. Alves recorded eight assists and three kills in the set. One kill began a five-point streak into the double digits. Just as the Pride gave up nine errors to put West Virginia up in the prior set, the Mountaineers tied the Pride’s second-set error count in the third set to help Hofstra win 25-16.
Hofstra lost an early lead once again in the fourth set and final set, beginning with a four-point streak of two kills from Beatriz Braga and solo kills from Garvin and Bal. West Virginia began to narrow the lead on a pair of kills from the Mountaineers’ Cassidy Tanton and a Bal error. Hofstra either led or tied with West Virginia throughout the set, until a five-point streak beginning at 20 points for the Mountaineers changed the trajectory. The Pride tied the set at 24 points on a West Virginia service error, but the Mountaineers won the next two points to defeat Hofstra 26-24 in the final set.
Bal led the Pride with 12 kills on 35 attacks while Stedile trailed with 11 kills and 31 attacks. From the back row, Cucco’s 24 digs and Alves’ 35 assists led any player during the matchup in their respective category.
The Pride’s next stop is the 2024 Cavalier Classic, hosted at the University of Virginia. They will play Coastal Carolina University at 12 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Jaylynn Nash LLC
