The Hofstra volleyball team successfully held off the Hampton University Pirates with a 3-1 win on Sunday, Oct. 2, sweeping them in the weekend series. The Pride extended their winning streak to six games with this win.
The Pride came into Sunday’s game with an 8-8 record and a 3-0 win against the Pirates from the previous day. Hampton, with a loss the day before, had a 3-4 record and looked to avoid a weekend sweep.
The Pride opened the first set with a kill by Zyare Abdul-Rahim off of an assist from Beatriz Alves. That didn’t stop the Pirates from coming back and tying the set at three.
The Pirates took the momentum back by leading with a service ace, but it didn’t take long for the Pride to claw back to a tied game at six.
Hofstra and Hampton continued to trade blows, keeping the scoring neck and neck at 22 until the Pride scored three consecutive points from an attack error by Pirates’ player Clara Smith and a kill by Yagmur Cinel to seal the first set win.
At the start of the second set, both teams were in it as a kill by Smith tied the game at three to keep up with Hofstra’s pace.
Abdul-Rahim drew another kill for a 4-3 lead, and from this point the team never looked back. The Pride kept scoring point after point, including a big point from freshman Clara Bal, to take a commanding 19- 12 lead. That didn’t mean the Pirates would quit quietly, as they came back to tighten the scoring gap to 21-20.
Hofstra tightened up defensively, and Abdul-Rahim landed another kill to etch into stone the second set.
The third set began as the Pirates gained a 4-3 lead from an attack error by the Pride’s Emily Nunes and then took a 19-12 lead. However, that was as far as Hofstra went offensively in that set.
An attack error by Abdul-Rahim at the end of the third set gave the Pirates the victory they wanted, coming out victorious 25-19 over the Pride.
The fourth set had a hot start with both teams tying the game at seven. It was a stalemate, tying all the way to 17 points on each side of the net, with neither side able to tip the scale in their favor.
An attack error by Pirates’ player Gabby Calloway gave the Pride some breathing room with a 22-19 lead.
The finish was a nail-biter at 25-23, courtesy of a kill by the Pride’s Cinel to claim the 3-1 victory.
Abdul-Rahim lead the team with a career high 21 kills, bringing her total on the year to 167. Alves also lead the team with 55 assists.
The volleyball team faces the College of Charleston Cougars on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m. at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center with hopes of extending their winning streak to 7-0.
Photo courtesy of Bellmore Images/Hofstra Athletics
