A sense of renewal was in the air Monday night for Hofstra volleyball as they looked to avenge a heartbreaking loss last Saturday and did so in a dominating fashion, sweeping Towson 25-21, 25-18 and 25-23. The Pride earned their first win in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in enemy territory at the SECU Arena in Towson, Maryland.
The first set saw Hofstra jump out to a 16-10 lead early and, following a late effort from the Tigers, the Pride held on to take the set 25-21. After a back and forth second set, the Pride used a 6-1 finish and a .382 attack percentage to take the set 25-18. After Towson tied the third at 23 to force a Hofstra timeout, the Pride would close the match with two straight points to win 25-23.
Aisha Skinner led the attack for the Pride with 12 digs and 12 of the 49 kills on the night for Hofstra. Laura Masciullo ended with 11 kills and a block, while Michela Rucli had 11 kills and a career-high .786 attack percentage. Doris Bogoje had three blocks on the night, as did Luisa Sydlik, who also ended with 34 assists. Ivania Ortiz had two of the four aces for the Pride.
Towson was led by Olivia Finckel with 14 kills and two blocks. Olamide Sonuga added threeblocks and Kristin Spengler finished with 17 assists. Anna Holehouse’s nine digs leaves her four shy of becoming the first Towson player and seventh CAA player with 2,000 digs during their career.
Despite Hofstra having more errors in the match – 16 compared to Towson’s 13 – the offensive attack by the Pride proved to be the deciding factor in each set. The Pride outscored Towson in kills 49-34 and posted a .297 attack percentage to the Tigers .214. Towson also only posted one ace to Hofstra’s four.
With the win, Hofstra is now 44-16 all time against Towson. The Pride have won two of their last three matches.
Towson dropped to 6-11 (1-2 CAA), while the Pride evened their CAA record to 1-1 and is now 11-5 overall this season.
The Pride returns to action as they welcome Elon (8-4, 0-1 CAA) on Friday, Sept. 28, at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
