The Hofstra University volleyball team bounced back after a Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) loss to Towson University. The Pride traveled to Northeastern University and defeated the Huskies 3-1 on Friday, Nov. 14.
With the victory, the Pride moved to 20-3 on the season and 12-3 in CAA play, while Northeastern dropped to 9-15 and 5-10 in conference play. This is the Pride’s 28th twenty-win season in program history, and their first since 2018.
The first set started with both teams jockeying for a lead, which ended when Hofstra went on two separate 3-0 runs to take a 15-8 set lead, causing Huskies’ head coach Brendan McGourn to take his first timeout of the afternoon. Hofstra won five of the next nine points, and a service ace from Lilia Duczek forced a second timeout from Northeastern, with Hofstra just five points from closing out a first-set victory. The Pride held on and won the first set 25-15, with Beatriz Braga leading the way with seven kills.
The Pride entered the afternoon second in the nation in opponent hitting percentage and held the Huskies to just a .080 hitting percentage in the first set, while hitting .517 themselves.
Northeastern went on a 3-0 run early in the second set to take a 5-4 lead, their first lead of the afternoon. However, the Pride answered with a 3-0 run of their own to take a 7-5 lead. The tightness of the second set rolled on, with neither team taking a lead of four points or more until Hofstra went on a 3-0 run and took a 16-12 set lead. Northeastern fought back and brought the set to 18-17, which was when Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur took her first timeout of the day. The two teams kept it close, and both teams took timeouts with both teams less than five points from a set victory. Northeastern held firm and took the second set from the Pride 26-24.
The Huskies’ hitting improved in the second set, hitting .324, while holding the Pride to .275
Northeastern started the third set on a 3-0 run, which caused Hofstra to take their first timeout of the set early on. The Huskies continued their run, taking an 8-4 lead thanks to another 3-0 Huskie run. Two service aces from Constanza Perez Sain helped the Pride to a 3-0 run to bring the set within two points. Hofstra continued to keep it close, but never close enough to take the lead. Two service aces from Izadora Stedile helped Hofstra to a 5-0 run, which gave the Pride the lead 21-20 – their first lead of the third set. The Pride ended the third set with an 8-2 run to win the third set 25-22.
Service aces were the story for the third set, with Hofstra winning the service ace battle 5-0.
The fourth set started back and forth, with the two teams tied for eleven consecutive points throughout the set, but Hofstra finally broke through and took a 22-19 lead off a 3-0 run, which forced Northeastern to take a timeout. The Pride held firm and won the set 25-2, winning the match 3-1.
During the fourth set, Braga hit the 20-kill mark for the fifth consecutive match and had her fifth double-double of the season, adding 12 digs.
Despite the victory, the Pride looked very sloppy, committing 36 errors throughout the match, compared to Northeastern’s 22. The blocking game of the Pride wasn’t as good as it has been throughout the season, putting up six blocks to the Huskies’ 13.
Despite the errors, it wasn’t all negative for Hofstra; they outhit Northeastern, while putting up more digs, service aces and kills. Individually, Braga, Stedile, and Perez Sain all had over 15 kills, and the Pride had four different players with more than 10 digs.
The Pride finished up the regular season at the Cabot Physical Education Center with their second match against Northeastern. First serve was set for 3 p.m.
