The Hofstra volleyball team took down Stony Brook University on Sunday, Feb. 21 in three straight sets to end the weekend 2-0. The Pride was led by senior Ana Martinovic with 11 kills, while junior Maddie Appleton tallied 27 assists.

Hofstra’s dominance started early in the first set thanks to outside hitter Zyare Abdul-Rahim, who contributed three points to the Pride’s five-to-one run to claim a 15-13 lead. The lead swelled to as many as eight points before Bianca Bucciarelli ended the set with her second of six kills in her debut with the blue and gold.

“I think this is going to be the strength of our team this year. We don’t have one player that is always going to be the go-to player,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur. “We have a lot of them, and they are going to help each other.”

The Pride’s solid play on the court was complimented by Stony Brook’s 21 attacking errors, which tripled Hofstra’s. The Pride’s style of play helped to capitalize on the mistakes on the other side of the net.

“Stony Brook has a very aggressive team … and one of the big things for us was trying to stay aggressive but be more mindful of the swings we took,” Mansur said.

Hofstra made quick adjustments in the three sets to reduce their own mistakes and capture their second sweep in as many matches. Martinovic’s change in performance was the most drastic as she entered the third set with five kills and three errors.

“She was able to turn her game up in the third … she got five or six kills in the third set without any errors, so I think this was the biggest thing to see her not having a great match to all of a sudden to be able to turn her game around,” Mansur said.

The Pride ended the third set 25-11 to win the match and Long Island.

“We respect Stony Brook, and we know it is always going to be a good match. We both want to protect the island and want to be the best of the island,” Mansur said.

For Appleton, she showed she can step in as the main setter despite taking a few points off after rolling her ankle in the second set.

“Maddie has been very cool to see her developing as a setter. She started the match a little but tight but then played a nice match on the setting position,” Mansur said. Appleton added a kill and two aces to her 27-assist total in the center of the court.

Hofstra takes their two wins to South Orange, New Jersey next week when they take on the Seton Hall University Pirates on Friday, Feb. 26.

Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/The Hofstra Chronicle