A tell-tale sign that the school year is right around the corner is hearing the Hofstra University volleyball team practicing in the David S. Mack Physical Education Center after a restful summer break.
“I’m grateful to be in the gym with these girls,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur. “I can’t watch them [all summer], and now I get to coach them, and it’s a lot of fun … It is so nice to be back.”
Despite holding a 4-6 record through the first 10 games, the Pride finished their 2024 campaign 19-10 overall with a 14-4 record against their Coastal Athletic Association opponents, tied for a second-best in-conference record and earned the No. 4 seed in the 2024 CAA Championship Tournament.
Hofstra breezed past their first-round opponent, No. 5 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, sweeping the Aggies in three sets with win margins as large as 11 points in each set. Their next opponent, No. 1 College of Charleston, arranged a lineup unfamiliar to the Pride. The two teams never faced each other in the regular season, and there were plenty of new faces on the Cougars that did not play against the Pride in their last meeting.
“Making the tournament was the standard that we know we have to accomplish, and we did,” Mansur said on the team appearing in the 2024 tournament after uncharacteristically missing out the season before. “We had the first round, we played really well, and overall, everybody versus NC A&T got the job done. Charleston was a wild card. We didn’t get to see them in the season, we’re very good at scouting and getting to know our opponents, and we didn’t get a chance to know them.”
Leading the Pride in their postseason run was Izadora Stedile, who, in just two playoff matches, recorded 29 kills and 33 digs. In her junior season, Stedile led the Pride in scoring and attacking with 392.5 total points, 3.67 points per serve and 342 kills. Now, entering her fourth year with the Pride, she has earned a nod to the 2025 Preseason All-CAA Team.
Fellow senior Clara Bal was also added to the Preseason All-CAA Team. While a late-season injury sidelined Bal for a few matches, she is ready to bounce back and excited for her final year as a member of Hofstra athletics.
“The motivation this year is to say that the last [year] should be the best one,” Bal said. “It’s very exciting to get to do this one more time. I’m so grateful to get to do this one more time and get the chance to win again.”
Eight freshmen join the Pride after notable names like Beatriz Alves and Chiara Cucco graduated.
“We have seven-and-a-half [freshmen],” Mansur joked about her rookie class. “Seven-and-a-half because Julia [Amorim] came in the spring. We have a mixture of positions – pretty much every position and every background. We have players that have played super competitively, internationally, lots of experience.”
Amorim joined the Pride shortly after their season ended. She was named Brazil’s best middle blocker in the Under-18 division in 2023 and appeared on three top two national teams between 2023 and 2024.
Hofstra’s volleyball team may be the school’s most diverse athletic team: The 18 athletes on the 2025 roster come from the United States, Brazil, Argentina, France, Poland, Turkey and Cyprus.
“We’re a team with so many cultures, [there’s] so many things to get from the other people around us that have different backgrounds, different experiences,” Bal said. “I feel like I’ve learned so much and I’ve seen so much from the people who are around me. I have grown to accept that there is not just one opinion, and sometimes it’s so nice to open yourself to others.”
Losing Alves creates a giant gap in the Pride’s back row, but Hofstra fans caught a glimpse of the future of Mansur’s decisions for the team setter last season with sophomore Ellie Pamatat, who got substantial playing time after Alves fell to an injury that saw her out of the lineup for most of September. Pamatat even became the Pride’s reigning leader in assists with 655 assists – 141 more than Alves’ count.
Mansur can also assure that rookie Nina Jioshvili-Ravva will see time in the back corner. Like many of Mansur’s international athletes, Jioshvili-Ravva has played on national-winning teams, appearing on France’s Under-21 volleyball championship team.
As for the defensive specialist/libero gap with Cucco’s departure, Mansur has domestically picked up Long Island native Ellia Zhang and Wisconsinite Cecilia Anderson.
Mansur is most excited to tackle her middle blocker situation. Alongside returner Emilly Nunes, four of the freshmen can play the position, making it the deepest position on this year’s roster. Joining Nunes and Amorim are Lilia Duczek, Valentina Lopez Moya and Georgia Ahlert.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens [filling out the lineup],” Mansur said. “We went from two middles to five.”
Constanza Perez Sain will get plenty of playing time alongside fellow hitters Bal and Stedile. Coming off a historic rookie season, Perez Sain led the CAA with 45 service aces and was the Pride’s third-best scorer, averaging 3.44 points per set with 260 kills.
“[Perez Sain] was so important for us, but she had to carry some big moments that, for a freshman, it’s very hard to do,” Mansur said. “We are expecting a little bit more maturity from her, but she’s going to have a huge impact … She is a weapon.”
The Pride’s season opened at Binghamton University on Sunday, Aug. 30. Binghamton is the reigning regular-season champion for the America East Conference, giving the Bearcats a spot in the 2024 National Volleyball Invitational Tournament. The Pride lost to Binghamton last season in four sets.
“We are focusing on us,” Mansur said of the team’s humble approach to a competitive season opener. “Binghamton is a great team, but right now we’re focusing on making Hofstra volleyball a unity, a team. Our focus is not on anyone until [CAA play]. Every off-season match is to make Hofstra better.”
