The Hofstra University volleyball team kicked off their 2025 season with a three-set sweep over Binghamton University at the school’s Bearcat Invitational on Aug. 31. Outscoring the Bearcats 25-15, 25-13 and 25-16 in each set, Hofstra keeps Binghamton winless.
Izadora Stedile led the Pride in scoring 12 kills and racked up eight digs. Clara Bal and Constanza Perez Sain followed with nine kills and seven kills, respectively.
Nina Jioshvili-Ravva made an excellent first impression in her Hofstra debut, leading the Pride with 29 assists and spending a majority of the match as the Pride’s setter. She earned her first collegiate assist by setting Bal up for Hofstra’s first kill of the season.
The Pride held a .441 hitting percentage and only made one error in the first set, a promising sight to start their season. Putting up 16 kills, Hofstra earned seven additional points on Binghamton errors, five coming from attack errors. Bal recorded her first ace of the season while middle blocker Valentina Lopez Moya got her first career ace in the first set.
Despite the Pride’s dominance, Hofstra’s longest point streak only lasted four points, including Lopez Moya’s ace and additional kill.
Hofstra became even more of a dominant force in the second set, improving their hit percentage to .550. Opening their second set on a bad set from Binghamton’s Alexandra Koleva and an attack error by Jalia Dublin and Julia Amorim’s first kill for the Pride, Hofstra broke out with a six point scoring streak. The Pride took advantage of four Bearcat errors. However, the Pride got a tad sloppy, as Binghamton earned five of their 13 set points off Hofstra errors.
While the Pride’s hit percentage dropped to .205 for the final set, they still proved to be an offensive force to be reckoned with. The third set was the only set in which Hofstra did not earn the first point. Georgia Ahlert, member of the Pride, quickly responded to earn her first two kills and got Hofstra back in the lead, an advantage they did not relinquish.
Hofstra managed an eight-point streak, including two kills and an ace from Bal. Towards the end of the set, Bal started a long volley that could have given the Pride their first win, but it ended on an error from Beatriz Braga, who earned the kill on the following serve to end the match.
The Pride will visit the U.S. Military Academy for the Black Knight Invitational, where they will open against the hosting Army West Point team. First serve is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5.
Photo courtesy of Photo by Marcus Albuquerque/Binghamton Athletics
