The Hofstra University volleyball team dropped their most recent Coastal Athletics Association (CAA) matchup against the College of Charleston Cougars 3-2 on Sunday, Nov. 5. The Pride’s record is now 18-9 overall and 8-8 in the CAA.
Sarah Pierre recorded her season high of 16 kills in the match. Chiara Cucco had 34 digs and eight assists while Beatriz Alves posted a career-high 19 digs on top of 49 assists.
The first set of the match proved the lopsidedness of the matchup. The Pride and Cougars each scored four consecutive points twice in the first set, but at least two errors occurred in each four-point run, awarding the opposing team points. Charleston held the lead for most of the set, except when back-to-back kills from Clara Bal and a kill by Charleston’s Lexi Wierzbicki put the Pride up by one point each time. The Cougars won the first set 25-21 due to a service error from Yagmur Cinel.
After trailing the Cougars for most of the second set, the Pride first tied the set at 23-23 on an error by Charleston’s Sofie Vogel. For the next six serves, the teams alternated point-for-point until Beatriz Braga stepped in to serve for Hofstra at 26-26. The Pride scored back-to-back points, awarding them the second set 28-26, preventing Charleston from repeating Saturday’s three-set shutout.
Charleston scored on six consecutive serves, but despite trailing the Cougars early in the game, the Pride prevailed and won the third set. Izadora Stedile recorded seven of her 16 team-leading kills in the third set alone, helping the Pride come back without trailing since the 14-14 mark. The Pride won the third set 27-25.
Although they scored on the first two serves, the Pride never saw the lead in the fourth set after Vogel recorded a kill to tie the set at 2-2. Back-to-back errors by Cinel and Stedile, along with four consecutive kills scored by the Cougars, led Charleston to tie the match two sets apiece and forced a back-and-forth fifth set to be played. After a tied score of 10-10, the Cougars scored on five of the last six serves of the match, the final two from errors made by Braga.
Hofstra’s loss marks their third five-set loss of the season, just two weekends after losing 3-2 to the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens.
The Pride concludes their regular season at home against the Stony Brook University Seawolves on Saturday, Nov. 11, and Sunday, Nov. 12. Both matchups will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
