The Hofstra Volleyball team opened their season at the Penn State Classic in University Park, Pennsylvania, dropping the first two matches of the tournament against No. 8 Penn State and Wichita State before wrapping up the last match of the weekend with a win against Holy Cross.
The Pride opened up with the first match against the hosts, No. 8 Penn State on Friday night, Aug. 30. Hofstra fell in three straight sets to the Nittany Lions, 25-13, 25-19 and 25-18, battling hard but ultimately falling against a tough, high ranked opponent.
Seniors Laura Masciullo and Luisa Sydlik started their final season for Hofstra on a solid note as Masciullo tallied team highs with six digs and nine kills while Sydlik gathered 26 assists throughout the three sets, reaching double figures in assists for her 66th consecutive match.
This season the Pride added two transfer students in Luz Divina Nuñez Sierra and Juliana Vaz, both of whom jumped right into the action starting in the first set. Nuñez Sierra notched six kills and two blocks in her debut while Vaz added five digs in her first time playing in a Pride uniform.
Junior Sanne Maring picked up right where she left off two seasons ago as she tallied six kills in her return from an injury that caused her to miss all of last season.
With the loss, the Pride are 0-8 all-time versus Penn State.
In day two of the Penn State Classic, the Pride fell to the Shockers in a five set back and forth battle.
Although Hofstra outhit the Shockers .226 to .177, WSU was ultimately able to neutralize the Pride attack, posting 11 blocks compared to the Pride’s eight. The Pride struggled on the back end as they committed 14 services errors in the match.
Masciullo continued to shine up front posting a match-high of 18 kills and 10 digs.
In an effort to recover in their second match of the day and their third of the tournament, Hofstra swept Holy Cross in three sets to earn their first win of the season.
Senior Eliska Truneckova posted the best match of her career in a Pride uniform with 11 kills and five digs.
Masciullo tied Truneckova for a team-high in kills with 11, posting double digits figures in kills in 12 of her last 13 matches with the outing against Penn State being the only one where she failed to accomplish the feat.
Overall, the Pride hit over .300 as they held the Crusaders to .160.
Sydlik was an anchor for the Pride as she recorded 38 assists and 12 digs for her second double-double of the season. Her assist total put her over 100 for the tournament while stretching her streak of matches with double-digit assists to 68.
The Pride also saw noticeable stats from Vaz in the last match of the Penn State Classic as she had a team-high 18 digs in the victory versus Holy Cross. Vaz totaled 37 digs throughout the tournament.
Up next, the Pride return back to Long Island to get ready to play Stony Brook in the battle of Long Island. Historically, the Pride have dominated the series posting an 8-1 overall record against the Seawolves. The matchup will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Stony Brook University.
Image courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
