The Hofstra University volleyball team took it’s second consecutive five-set loss to the College of Charleston, the reigning champions of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), on Saturday, Sept. 27.
The Pride now hold a 9-2 overall record while the Cougars improve to 7-6 on the season. While both teams sit 2-2 in CAA play, Hofstra is holding down fifth place in conference standings while Charleston is in seventh.
With 17 kills and 15 digs, Izadora Stedile became the seventh player in Hofstra volleyball history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her Pride career, after reaching the kill count during Hofstra’s first match in the series against Charleston on Friday and reaching the dig count in Saturday’s match. Stedile is the first member of Hofstra’s 1,000/1,000 club since Kelsie Wills accomplished the feat in 2014.
Beatriz Braga led the Pride alongside Stedile with 19 kills, while Constanza Perez Sain contributed 11 kills on the day and Valentina Lopez Moya recorded a season-high 10 kills. In the back row, Nil Kayaalp led with 22 digs while Nina Jioshvili-Ravva put up a season-high 49 assists.
The Pride breezed through the first set, earning three of their first four points on Charleston errors. Hofstra went on multiple four point runs and had both Jioshvili-Ravva and Perez Sain record aces in the opening set, which the Pride easily won 25-15.
The two teams played a much closer second set. The Cougars took a 25-23 victory over the Pride, but each team committed far more errors than they did in the first set. Twelve of Hofstra’s set points, and 13 of Charleston’s set points, came off errors from the opposite team. Braga and Perez Sain recorded three kills apiece in the second set to help Hofstra to a tie at 23 points apiece, but after the 23-23 tie, Charleston won the set on an error from Stedile and a kill from Izzy Marinelli.
Marinelli was the leading scorer for Charleston, finishing her second match against the Pride with 19 kills.
Hofstra won the third set 25-20 while Charleston took the fourth set with a mirrored score. During the fifth set, Charleston started on a 6-0 run before Marinelli recorded an error to give the Pride their first point of the set. Hofstra trailed during the entire set, never putting together a run greater than two points in a row. Stedile’s four kills in the set were not enough for a Pride victory, as Hofstra lost 15-9 in a heartbreaking fifth-set loss.
Hofstra opens CAA play at home with a pair of matches against Elon University on Friday, Oct. 3, and Saturday, Oct. 4. First serve is set for 2 p.m. at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center for both matches.
