Ana Martinovic pulled out all the tricks and treats as the Hofstra volleyball team cruised to a four-set victory over UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) on Sunday, Oct. 31, at the David S. Mack Physical Education Building. Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-22 and 25-19.
The Halloween win completed the weekend sweep over UNCW after winning Saturday’s match, also in four sets.
“I think we did what we needed to do as far as getting two wins,” said Hofstra associate head coach Hava Davis. “Definitely have some things that we need to iron out as far as consistency.”
Down 8-4 in the opening set, the Pride rattled off a 14-3 run to take a commanding 18-11 lead. UNCW followed with a run of their own, but the Pride’s lead was too much to overcome as Hofstra took the set 25-22.
After a back-and-forth second set, UNCW used a late 4-0 run to take a 22-18 lead and eventually tie the match at one set each.
After prevailing in this set, Hofstra ended the match after a late 7-2 run put the Pride up 22-17 sinking any chances of UNCW forcing a fifth set.
Martinovic was an offensive machine during the match racking up 17 kills while posting a .485 attack percentage.
“I think [Martinovic] kind of played within herself… she didn’t try to do too much,” Davis said.
Florencia Wolkowyski added another 14 kills for the Pride, while also contributing on defense with four blocks. Zyare Abdul-Rahim finished with 10 kills while Sarah Pierre was a force at the net with eight blocks.
“[Pierre] was a little more disciplined today than she was yesterday,” Davis said. “She did a great job with her blocking today and I think it was more just her being disciplined with the game plan.”
Beatriz Alves also shined in the match assisting on 46 of Hofstra’s 58 kills. Alves also contributed to several crucial points with six kills of her own.
“That’s something we’ve been encouraging her to do, being more offensive minded herself,” Davis said. “We feel that if being more offensive minded and thinking of herself as an attacker it opens up opportunities for other attackers.”
The Seahawks were led by Brianna Haggerty’s 10 kills. Katie Lanz finished with seven kills in the match which surpasses the 500 kills mark for her career.
As we get closer to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament, Hofstra moves to 13-10 (7-5 CAA) tying them with Northeastern University for the fourth spot in the tournament.
The Pride will travel to Elon University on Friday, Nov. 5, with a chance to catch Elon (14-10 (9-5 CAA)) in the CAA standings. The match will start at 7 p.m. at the Schar Center.
Photo Courtesy of Evan Bernstein/The Hofstra Chronicle
