It took four sets, but the Hofstra Pride volleyball team defeated Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) foe The College of William & Mary, three sets to one at the David S. Mack Physical Education Building Saturday, Oct. 26. Set scores were 25-23, 27-29, 25-12, 25-17.
Ana Martinovic led the way for the Pride with a career-high 20 kills, and Luisa Sydlik continued her rise up the Hofstra all-time assist leaderboard with 45 in the match.
The win puts the Pride at 7-3 in conference play, leaving them a match and a half behind James Madison University for second place in the CAA.
The match started closely contested, with the Tribe committing multiple service errors in the early goings. Halfway through the set, the Pride and Tribe were knotted up at 12, with Martinovic and Laura Masciullo controlling the Pride offensive attack, combining for eight of the Pride’s first nine kills. After exchanging points Hofstra broke through taking the first set 25-23.
The second set resembled the first with tightly contested play being the theme. The only difference was the Tribe had the lead against the Pride, going up 18-14. Even then, the Pride were quick to provide a rebuttal, going on a 5-1 run to even the set up at 19. Hofstra started to retake control, with a 3-0 run putting them ahead 23-22. But, much like the last set, William & Mary stormed back again, this time forcing the set into extra points. The two teams went back and forth until the Tribe eventually took the set by a score of 29-27.
Early in the third set, it seemed like the theme of close play would continue, as the teams were tied at nine early. From there, a switch seemed to turn on for the Pride, as they controlled the remainder of the match. A 9-2 run put Hofstra up 18-11, and from there they never looked back. They would only allow one more point in the set, taking it by a score of 25-12.
A big reason why the Pride dominated this set was their service aces. They had seven in the third set alone. Which was more that William & Mary had in the entire match. They got multiple service aces from three separate players in this set, including two from Sydlik, who finished with a team-high of six.
“It’s really cool to see the improvement on that,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur. “It’s something that we’ve been working on the whole year, so it’s nice to see our ace ration being better than our errors.”
The fourth saw the Pride offense taking over as they never lead by less than four points after taking a 10-6 lead in the set. While up 20-11, the Tribe had one last run in them, going 5-1 to get the lead down to five. But, the Pride weathered the storm in the 25-17 set victory.
The Pride offense could not be stopped as 20 kills from Martinovic and 14 from Masciullo powered Hofstra in the win.
Another player that’s stepped up big for the Pride recently is freshman outside hitter Madeline Matheny. She recorded seven kills today, the third time in the last four matches in which she’s had at least that many.
“Madeline is our sunshine,” Mansur said. “We need her on the court. Her energy is really cool to have. It’s really amazing to see her numbers; just being consistent. Every aspect of her game is getting better every day.”
The Pride finishes off their stretch of four matches in seven days tomorrow with their biggest test yet, taking on the Towson University Tigers, who are undefeated in CAA play. That match starts at 3 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
