Hofstra volleyball’s 2019 season came to a devastating end on Friday, Nov. 22, as they fell to No. 6 University of Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) quarterfinals in five sets.
The Blue Hens rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the No. 3 Pride at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center, with set scores of 23-25, 20-25, 28-26, 25-22 and 15-13. They will take on No. 2 James Madison University in the CAA Semifinals.
The first set was a hard-fought back-and-forth affair with the Pride coming out on top 25-23. After trading points for the first half of the set, Hofstra used a 7-1 scoring run to break the tie and go ahead 17-11. Delaware was resilient, however, and stormed all the way back to cut their deficit to 22-20, fueled by Bailey Pearlman, Maria Bellinger and Ayala Plummer.
Two consecutive attack errors by Laura Masciullo and Ana Martinovic allowed the Blue Hens to tie the score at 23. After Hofstra won the next point to take back their lead, Martinovic rebounded from her error and delivered the set-clinching kill to put the Pride up 1-0 in the match.
Hofstra rode their momentum into the second set and went ahead 2-0 in the match with a 25-20 win. The Pride and Blue Hens battled back and forth once again, but Martinovic tallied three kills to help power the Pride on a 10-3 run and move in front 20-13.
Rivera then responded with three consecutive kills to lead the Blue Hens on a 7-2 tear to cut Hofstra’s lead down to two. The Pride bounced back and won the next three rallies to bring themselves one set away from advancing to the semifinals.
Despite trailing 2-0, Delaware did not give up and fought hard until the end to win the third set 28-26. The Blue Hens prevented Hofstra from pulling away in this one and stayed within one point the entire way. The Pride had a chance to end Delaware’s season after Madeline Matheny put them up 24-23, but Rivera came up clutch again with her eighth kill of the match to tie it. Delaware won the set after an Athina Dimitriadis attack error let them stay alive.
The Blue Hens forced a fifth set with a strong performance in set four, winning 25-22. After trailing early on, Pearlman’s 11th kill of the match put them in front for good. Hofstra kept the score close but did not have enough momentum to take back the lead.
In the fifth and final set, the Pride failed to close the match out yet again and fell 15-13 as Delaware jumped out to a quick lead and never gave it up.
Though Hofstra stayed in it, they were unable to stop Delaware’s run. The Blue Hens’ defense was terrific and did not allow the Pride to score consecutive points the entire set. With the score at 14-13 in favor of Delaware, Dimitriadis’ attack error gave them the win to advance to the semifinals.
“It was a great job by Delaware tonight for fighting,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur. “We were up 2-0 but they kept coming and we couldn’t stop them once they got the momentum.”
Delaware defeated the Pride for the second consecutive match after beating them last Sunday in the regular season finale. They will now play No. 2 JMU in the CAA Semifinals.
“This is the CAA and I think some of our leaders relaxed a little bit and Delaware was able to take the momentum away from them,” Mansur said. “We knew they were coming to play and their heart reached a little bit further than us.”
For Delaware, Bellinger led the way with 21 kills, followed by 17 from Rivera and 13 from Pearlman. Dimitriadis had a career night for the Pride and led with 17 kills. In what turned out to be their final match as members of the Pride, Laura Masciullo tallied 13 kills and 14 digs, Luisa Sydlik had 60 assists and 11 digs and Eliska Truneckova had one service ace.
“It’s tough because all three of them worked really hard for us and I really wish, especially being here at home, that they could keep going a little bit more, which makes this a tough one,” Mansur said.
Hofstra finishes the season with a 17-12 overall record while going 10-6 in the conference.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
