On Sunday, Oct. 9, Hofstra’s volleyball team defeated the College of Charleston Cougars with a 3-1 victory, extending their win streak to eight.
“It’s a great weekend, especially winning both matches against a very good Charleston team, and it’s a wonderful thing to continue to build; it’s great,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur. “We never had a doubt [in ourselves], so if people had a doubt, I hope this proves a point that we are [going to] continue to build and continue to get better.”
The Pride came into Sunday’s game with a 10-8 record and a seven-game winning streak, beating Charleston 3-1 the day before. Meanwhile, Charleston was looking to salvage the second game of this weekend’s series and improve to 8-11 on the season.
Hofstra started the first set with a kill by Zyare Abdul-Rahim and continued to attack, taking a 4-3 lead to start. The Cougars did not back down easily and tied the set at eight after Hofstra’s Beatriz Alves recorded a bad set.
To break the tie, the Pride scored six unanswered points for a 14-8 lead from a couple of service aces and kills by Abdul-Rahim and Izadora Stedile.
The Pride continued their offensive dominance and led the set to 18-10.
The Cougars didn’t give up, scoring three unanswered points to cut the deficit to 18-13. Hofstra failed to close out the first set with some miscommunications to expedite a lockdown win.
Hofstra rallied together and won the set with two more kills from Abdul-Rahim to solidify the first set 25-19.
Hofstra and Charleston opened the second set by trading with kills courtesy of Alves, Yagmur Cinel and Emily Nunes to tie at 5-5. Another kill by Alves gave the Pride some breathing room with an 8-5 lead in the set.
The Pride took that lead and widened it to 20-13 with an attack error by Charleston’s Lexi Wierzbicki. Similar to the first half, the Pride struggled to close out the set and opened the door for Charleston to creep their way back into the game.
Hofstra’s tightened defense gave way for a 25-19 set win with a kill from Stedile to close the second set.
The third set started off similar to the first two, with both teams going neck and neck, tying the set at 7-7. Charleston capitalized on an instance of miscommunication and earned 12 points to Hofstra’s three to take a 19-11 lead.
Once on top, the Cougars’ overpowering offense did not stop their momentum, and they won the third set 25-15.
Hofstra opened the fourth set with three consecutive points from Cinel and two attack errors by Charleston’s Gabi Bailey. Hofstra continued to hammer down the Cougars, taking a 7-1 lead.
A kill by Hofstra’s Sarah Pierre put the score at 13-5, further adding momentum to a face-paced set.
Hofstra’s overall dominance was solidified via a Nunes kill, and that same energy led to a 25-15 win. This win elevated the team’s record to 10-8, 8-0 in conference and gave them their eighth consecutive win.
“I’m very proud, and it’s exciting,” Mansur said. “Every win is a win, and it’s a long season and we focus on each day, but it’s awesome.”
Abdul-Rahim led the team with 11 kills, followed by Alves with 42 assists to help boost Hofstra over Charleston.
The volleyball team prepares to face off against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 4 p.m. in Wilmington, North Carolina, looking to extend their win streak to nine.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
