The volleyball team continues to dominate the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), extending their winning streak to 12 with another 3-1 win over the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens on Sunday, Oct. 23.
“Everyone is doing a little bit better,” said head coach Emily Mansur. “It’s becoming a team; we are not depending on one person. So, if someone is having a bad day, someone else is taking a little more of the load. So, I think that’s a big help.”
Hofstra’s record lifts to 15-8 overall and 12-0 in CAA play. The Blue Hens’ back-to-back losses drops their record to 11-9 and 7-5 in conference.
At the start of the first set, the Blue Hens lead the scoring with an attack error by Hofstra’s Zyare Abdul-Rahim. The Pride caught a break with a Delaware service error to tie the score at one. The Blue Hens continued to pounce on the Pride with a score of 7-4 from a kill by Delaware’s Pearce Augier.
After that point, the Pride scored five unanswered points for a 9-7 lead, with four kills by Clara Bal, Izadora Stedile and Emily Nunes. The Pride took control of the game after that point and lead the game 18-13, courtesy of a kill by Sarah Pierre.
The Pride continued to thrive but had trouble closing out the game, letting Delaware come as close as 24-20 from a block error by Stedile. Bal’s kill sealed the deal for the first set for Hofstra, finishing 25-20.
At the start of the second set, Hofstra took a 7-5 lead from another kill from Stedile. However, the Blue Hens overtook the lead 12-10 by an attack error from Beatriz Alves. Delaware kept up their pace of scoring with a speedy jump to hold a 20-16 lead over the Pride. Hofstra didn’t go down quietly, creeping back to do damage control and bring the game to 24-21 from a service ace. A kill by Delaware’s Lani Mason sealed the set 25-21 over Hofstra to give both teams an even chance.
After the second set loss, Hofstra came hot out of the gate with a 7-1 lead over the Blue Hens from an attack error by Mason. Hofstra continued to thrive in the set and did not stop for anybody. Stedile helped boost the lead with three back-to-back kills to extend the lead 14-6. Izadora closed out the set with another kill, and the Pride won the match 25-14.
The Blue Hens tried to stave off the Pride and gave the audience a back-and-forth affair in what would be the final set. At first, Hofstra took a 6-2 lead early off an attack error. Then, the Blue Hens came back to tie the game at six. The game was neck and neck for majority of the set.
The Pride earned a 20-18 lead off another attack error from Delaware, but the Blue Hens remained relentless and tied the game again at 20 with a kill from Savannah Seamans. The heated set went all the way to 23-23, but Abdul-Rahim had other plans. The nail-biter of a set ended with a kill by Abdul-Rahim, her 11th of the day.
Stedile lead the team in kills with 13.
“I think for Izadora, she’s a really good player, and she knows the game well,” Mansur explained. “Sometimes she just overthinks, and I think just letting her play free a little bit more helped today.”
The Hofstra volleyball team takes a little break from CAA play as they take on the Chicago State University Cougars on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m. at the David. S. Mack Physical Education Center with hopes to achieve a 13-game winning streak.
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/Hofstra Athletics
