The Hofstra volleyball team cruised to a three-set sweep over Stony Brook University on Tuesday, Sept. 7, fueled by Ana Martinovic’s match-high 12 kills. The win was the Pride’s second straight and improved its record to 5-3 for the season. Stony Brook was led by Amiyah De’Long and Leoni Kunz’s 11 kills each, but their efforts were not enough as the Seawolves dropped to 2-5 for the season.
Hofstra dominated the first set, winning comfortably by a score of 25-16. The Pride jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead to begin the stanza and never gave up once. After Stony Brook responded and cut their early deficit to one point, the Pride broke away again by going on a 5-1 run.
The Seawolves struggled to bypass Hofstra’s strong defense in the set as they were held to a .000 attack percentage. Stony Brook also committed nine errors to help the Pride break away.
Hofstra and Stony Brook battled more closely in the second set, but the Pride came away in the end with another victory as they won 25-23. The two teams went back and forth throughout the set and had eight lead changes.
With the Pride in front 20-18, the Seawolves won the next three points to take back the lead. However, Hofstra responded with a 5-2 scoring run led by three kills from Martinovic to take the set and a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was another close battle as both teams traded big scoring run after big scoring run all the way to the end. Hofstra prevailed once more in the end with another 25-23 victory to close out the match.
With Hofstra up by one, Stony Brook jumped ahead with a 5-0 tear to take a 14-10 lead. But the Pride quickly responded with a 4-0 run themselves to tie up the score once again. Later in the set, Hofstra won six consecutive points to briefly go back in front at 20-17.
At match point, Athina Dimitriadis secured the sweep with her second kill and closed out yet another Long Island rivalry win for the Pride.
For Hofstra, freshman outside hitter Florencia Wolkowyski finished second in kills behind Martinovic with seven, followed by Zyare Abdul-Rahim’s six. Two other Pride rookies, Beatriz Alves and Chiara Cucco, continued their strong starts to their collegiate careers as Alves led the team with 28 assists and Cucco led with 18 digs.
Hofstra moved to 11-1 all-time against the Sea Wolves, including nine straight victories. The Pride will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 10, against Cleveland State University as they open the 2021 Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament in Hamilton, NY.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
