The No. 6 Hofstra volleyball team held on for a thrilling five-set victory over No. 3 College of Charleston Cougars in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 18, at Towson University’s SECU Center.
The win advanced the Pride to the CAA semifinals on Friday, Nov. 19, against No. 2 Elon University.
After winning the first two sets by comfortable leads of 25-20 and 25-18, Hofstra dropped the next two to the Cougars with scores of 22-25 and 24-26. Hofstra regained its momentum in the fifth set and eliminated Charleston with a 15-13 victory.
“I’m absolutely proud. It’s a win, it’s a win in the CAA championship and it gets us to tomorrow and that’s what our focus was every day. It’s a great thing,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur.
Several Pride players stood out in the match to lead them to the first-round victory. Ana Martinovic led the way with 14 kills, followed by Athina Dimitriadis and Florencia Wolkowyski with 13 and Zyare Abdul-Rahim with 12.
In addition, Hofstra’s freshmen, Chiara Cucco and Beatriz Alves, finished with match-highs in their respective stat categories, as Cucco tallied 27 digs and Alves racked up 48 assists.
“I’m super proud of them. We have five freshmen on the court so for me, there’s nothing better than seeing them grow and them being able to take on a strong College of Charleston team,” Mansur said.
Hofstra got off to a hot start and used a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead early in the first set. However, Charleston responded and took advantage of four Pride errors. The Cougars won six out of the next seven points to go in front 18-17.
With the score at 20-19 in favor of Charleston, Hofstra regained the momentum and went on a 6-0 scoring run to win the first set.
Hofstra carried its momentum to the second set as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead. The Pride continued its torrid start and expanded its lead to 11-3 before Charleston head coach Jason Kepner called a timeout.
Later on, Martinovic and Abdul-Rahim each notched kills and Hofstra took advantage of two more attack errors by the Cougars, opening up its largest lead of the night at 20-9.
That large cushion proved to be beneficial for the Pride as Charleston went on a 7-2 scoring run to cut their deficit to six points and a score of 24-18. At set point, Bianca Bucciarelli subbed in to record the final kill and put Hofstra up 2-0.
Despite the 2-0 deficit, Charleston refused to back down and won the next two sets to even up the match. In the third stanza, Hofstra quickly went ahead 5-3, but the Cougars responded by winning the next six consecutive points. Hofstra committed four attack errors and fell victim to two service aces during Charleston’s run.
The Pride fought back later in the set with a 5-0 tear to take back a 15-13 lead. As the two teams traded runs, the score was knotted at 22 before the Cougars finally broke free in the end. Lexi Wierzbicki recorded a kill and Hofstra committed two attack errors as Charleston won the next three points and the set.
After dropping the third set, Hofstra exploded to a 14-6 lead to begin the fourth stanza. However, Charleston bounced back and evened up the match at two by winning 26-24.
After jumping out to an eight-point lead, Hofstra’s lead slowly began to slip away. With the score at 22-17, Charleston continued their momentum and cut the deficit to only one point.
The Pride was barely holding on by two points until the Cougars went on a 4-0 run fueled by two kills from Gabi Bailey to win the set.
Despite the small collapse, Hofstra regained its momentum and finally eliminated the Cougars with a 15-13 win in the fifth set.
Hofstra and Charleston battled back and forth throughout the final set, but the Cougars began to let their 12-9 lead slip away. Needing only a few points to clinch a trip to the semifinals, Charleston failed to close out the match as Hofstra evened up the score. After tying it again at 13, Hofstra clinched the victory with their next two points and Dimitriadis getting the match-winning block.
“Every match of the CAA championship is a big battle, so we expect another great match. We want to be here and show a great volleyball match,” Mansur said.
Hofstra will battle Elon University with a trip to the CAA championship game on the line on Friday, Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
