By Mike Rudin – Sports Editor
The remaining seven out-of-conference match ups the Pride will face consist of one major local rival followed by two key invitational meets. That seven-match stretch will ultimately test their ability to win, display the team’s strengths/weaknesses and it’ll determine how the Pride will do for the rest of the season. But without further ado, here’s part two of the non-conference schedule.

Mansur’s battle of Long Island

9/8 @ Stony Brook (17-15, America East) The Seawolves volleyball team is not their strongest athletic program as they were ranked 230th overall in the NCAA RPI listings. The America East Conference doesn’t hold a candle light compared to the CAA in volleyball. Stony Brook’s conference ranges from 198th place with New Hampshire, to 323rd with UMass Lowell while the CAA ranges from 88-279.

With Stony Brook losing their No. 1 and No. 3 kills leaders in Melissa Rigo and Evann Slaughter respectively, the Seawolves will have a hard time taking down the Pride. Especially since they lost Taylor Gillie and Slaughter on defense, each were the top blockers on the squad.  Digs will be the bedrock of the team’s success, which’ll provide any possible chance of winning since their three best dig leaders will return to the court.

Hofstra Asics Invitational

9/11 vs. Princeton University (14-10, Ivy) The Tigers were ranked 151th as part of the top three teams within the Ivy league last year by RPI. The team’s conference falls on even terrain with the CAA as Yale and Harvard ranked 63rd and 84th respectively but the then the overall abilities drop off from there.

Hofstra’s first match of their own invitational will prove to be interesting as Princeton’s focal point will be their offense. The only major departure for Princeton is Nicole Kincade. She was the team’s best blocker with 90 in total. Plus, she was their second-best kills’ scorer with 244. It’ll be a match between Hofstra’s defense vs. Princeton’s offense.

9/12 vs. Florida Gulf Coast University (19-11, Atlantic Sun) The Eagles came off a good year within their conference but the key question is how will they stack up against the Pride. Florida was ranked 85th by the NCAA’s RPI as the second-highest ranked team in the Atlantic Sun.

Although the Eagles were a quality team last year, there talent and depth drops after a few key players won’t be returning. On offense, the loss of Olivia Mesner and Jessica Barnes hurts the team since they were the second and third best scorers in kills. On defense, their losing their top digs leader in Whitney masters (519) and their third-best digs leader in Gigi Meyer (266). There are plenty of other pieces to make up for the losses and they’re still a threat but FGCU will be spread thinner this year.

9/12 vs. University of Hartford (17-13, America East) The Hawks (262th) were ranked far less than the Pride’s (90th) standings in RPI by the NCAA. Harford resides in the same conference as Stony Brook yet the Eagles are a stronger AEC team.  Hartford is the third-strongest team in the conference – only with New Hampshire ranked 198th in RPI at the top while the CAA holds teams within the top 100.

Hartford will struggle without Sareeta Netherole departing after she led the team in kills last season. She compiled 425 kills for the Hawks and she was the team’s digs leader with 434. Hartford also lost their second-best leader in digs with Jackie Tamburri gone. Hartford will have a rough time against Hofstra’s defense since the Pride’s defensive core remains intact with Black, Delgadillo and Klemm. Hartford’s only hope is their offense finds a rhythm with the remaining quality pieces in Kathy Henchy – Hartford’s next best leader in kills in 2014.

 Deacon Classic Invitational

9/18 vs. Virginia Commonwealth University (17-13, Atlantic 10) The Rams are not a team to snuff at since their most recent NCAA RPI ranking of 69th. The Atlantic 10 holds a variety of strong and weak teams. VCU is one of the top three strongest teams that f
all in the top 75 nationally.

Hofstra will catch a break as the team will lose a couple of key components but the foundations will mostly remain intact. Offensively they’ll be losing Janelle – who was ranked second in kills with 321 on the team – as well as Nora Reed who compiled 145 kills, putting her as the fourth best kills scorer on the team. Defensively, VCU loses two of their top five leaders in digs but blocks will be there biggest weakness with the departures of their top two blockers, Janelle Skyes and Cecilia Aragao.
9/19 vs. University of Georgia (14-17, Southeastern) The Dogs were ranked 125th last year and their conference is a collection of teams scattered from top to the bottom throughout the RPI rankings. Georgia falls in the middle of the pact and the Pride can take most of the teams in the conference based on rankings alone.

The Dogs will be without their top two kill’s leaders from last year but their offense was very distributed between four players, each of the four penciled in at least 225 kills. This will give the two remaining of the four players, Amanda Dachs and Jasmine Eaton, the opportunity to rise to the occasion in 2015. The team’s defense takes a huge hit without their top three digs leaders. The Dogs will have to makeup over a 1,000 digs but Georgia’s blocks will be their foundation on defense since their core will be returning. Hofstra will try to extend Georgia’s road struggles into 2015 after going 2-9 last year.

9/19 vs. Wake Forest University (16-16, Atlantic Coast) The Demon Deacons reside in the tail end of an overall large, strong conference. There are 15 teams in total, two teams ranked in the top 10 by RPI, seven ranked in the top 100 and the remaining six tallied in the 100-201 range. Wake Forest finds themselves in the bottom six, ranked at 143rd.

Despite the Demon Deacons struggles on the road last year going 1-10, eight of those losses came from within their own conference, some of the teams consisted of No. 21 Duke, No. 7 North Carolina and No. 3 Florida State. One particular loss for Wake Forest was against College of Charleston in five sets. Thus, giving an idea how strong they were last year. The Deacons will be without their kills’ leader Jazen Russell who put up 523 kills. But unlike the Pride which will be without last year’s top three kills’ leaders, Wake Forest retains their next top two kills’ leaders after Russell for 2015. The defensive core remains virtually intact for Wake Forest and they’ll be a thorn in the Pride’s side this year.

Keep on the lookout for the 2015 Volleyball preview piece that’ll go in-depth with the current roster, key departures, Mansur’s perspective on the team and overall outlook on the 2015 season.