On Sunday afternoon, the Hofstra University volleyball team picked up a 3-1 victory over the Elon University Phoenix. The Pride’s record improved to 12-1 with a 2-0 start to conference play.
“It’s nice to be in this situation,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur about being 2-0 in the Coastal Athletic Association. “It’s always tough to play a good team two days in a row because you get to know each other. It’s a very good position to be in.”
Clara Bal has continued to dominate the court with 16 kills in the game, leading the team with 156 overall.
“It was good to see Clara in her game and playing her volleyball,” Mansur said. “She had a much better day today. So it was really good to see how she could rebound and come back from having a tough game the day before.”
Shining alongside her was Izadora Stedile with 12 kills and 13 digs for the Pride.
“Izadora had a tough start to the first set but then she played her game,” Mansur said. “it was really cool to see her back because we needed her.”
The Pride dominated in a 3-0 sweep over Elon the day before and carried that momentum over into the first set on Sunday. At the start, Hofstra fell behind 4-2 from two kills by Elon’s Cameron Lanier but rebounded scoring five straight points 7-4. Multiple kills from Bal and Beatriz Braga, plus three from Emily Nunes made for a 14-10 lead. The Pride’s defense kept the Phoenix’s offense at bay while continuing to add to the scoreboard. Nunes ended the game with two kills, overpowering Elon in the first set 25-17.
The second set took a turn for the Hofstra offense. Elon scored seven points, flying by the Pride 8-1, with multiple attack errors adding to the mishaps. At 19-11, a bad set and service error by Beatriz Alves, combined with two kills from Lanier and Sydney Love placed Elon at a 23-11 lead. However, the Pride started to turn the screws in the right direction with seven straight on the board from Bal and Yagmur Cinel to come back within five, 23-18. Lanier then finally put the Pride away in the set, 25-18.
“That second set was interesting,” Mansur said. “We will definitely be going back to see what happened there but it was good to see how they came back and how we were able to stay composed so we can find our way back into good volleyball.”
The almost late set comeback fired the Pride up, and they played like they never skipped a beat. The third set was a back-and-forth affair, but Hofstra consistently continued to battle through the Phoenix’s defense. Late in the set, Elon led 21-20 over Hofstra but a kill by Izadora Stedile followed by two glamorous kills from Bal sealed the third set for the Pride, 25-21
Hofstra kept their foot on the gas going into the fourth set. A speedy 12-5 lead catapulted the Pride ahead 23-10. Stedile overpowered the net and blew two kills to seal the set and game 25-11 for Hofstra.
Hofstra will take their six-game win streak and put it up against the Northeastern University Huskies in their next CAA match-up in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 2 P.M.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Alexis Friedman
