The Hofstra University volleyball team continued their early season success, taking down the Dartmouth College Big Green on the road in Hanover, New Hampshire, in three sets on Saturday, Sept. 9. The win marks Hofstra’s 10th in its first 11 games on the season and concludes Hofstra’s non-conference schedule.
Sophomore Clara Bal led the Pride in kills with 11. In total, she has 132 kills at this point in the season, leading the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). Sophomore Izadora Stedile followed Bal with nine kills of her own, followed by graduate student Sarah Pierre who posted six.
Junior Beatriz Alves and senior Yagmur Cinel both recorded four service aces each in the contest. Cinel and Alvez continue to dominate serving the ball, with both women ranking in the top four in service aces in the entire conference with Alvez in first with 24 and Cinel in fourth with 17.
Alvez and Pierre also both led Hofstra in blocks in the contest with two apiece. Pierre currently ranks sixth in the conference in total blocks with 38. Alvez also led the team in assists with 32.
With no other player on the Pride collecting more than two, Alvez continued to show her versatility and importance to the team, highlighted by her CAA Player of the Week award on Monday, Sept. 11. Alvez has 401 assists on the season, putting her at the top of the CAA.
The Pride dominated the game from the opening serve, holding double digit leads at multiple points during the contest and took the first set by a score of 25-19.
The second set was much closer than the first, with neither team being able to pull away from the other. Neither team led by more than three points until the score was tied at 18. It was at that point when the Pride took control of the second set. Rattling off five straight points to take a 23-18 lead, they won the set 25-23 despite a comeback attempt by Dartmouth.
The third set mirrored the first set, as both teams traded points in the early stages of the contest. Despite Dartmouth seemingly taking control of the set with a 13-8 lead, the Pride roared back, outscoring the Big Green 17-6 the rest of the way en route to a 25-19 three victory, thus sealing the match for Hofstra.
With the 10-1 start to their season, the team has their best start to a season since 1988. The Pride will now open conference play, with their first pair of matches taking place at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center against Elon University. The first of the two games will take place on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 1 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
