By Alexandra Licata — STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra volleyball team dropped a five-set contest in its regular season finale to James Madison University (JMU) in Virginia on Sunday afternoon.
The Dukes would use a 4-1 run to never look back in the fifth set after being knotted at three to win the set 15-8 and claim the victory.
The Pride fell to 17-13 overall and 9-7 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. JMU is now 20-5 and 11-5 in CAA play.
The two teams traded points during the first set, but eventually the Pride hit a rhythm after scoring their 10th point which kept them ahead of the Dukes. Hofstra led 22-15, which would be its largest lead of the first set, before the Dukes scored four consecutive points to get within three points of tying. Hofstra held on to win the first set 25-20.
Despite the Pride’s early 12-6 lead in the second set, JMU rallied behind Kelly Vahos to score five consecutive points to cut Hofstra’s lead to one.
Vahos had 15 kills and eight digs on the day. The two teams went back and forth with the lead, but the Dukes came out on top to win the set 25-21 and tie the match.
JMU would go on to win the third set 25-20 after staking an insurmountable 10 point lead against the Pride, but the Pride would fight back to force a fifth set after a 5-1 run in the fourth set propelled them to a 25-19 win.
JMU’s Bryn Recker recorded 19 kills, 11 digs, five blocks and three aces to lead the team in the win. Taylor Austin also contributed 30 digs.
Pride sophomore Laura Masciullo led the team with 17 kills, four aces and tallied 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.
Senior Doris Bogoje recorded a career-best 15 kills and contributed seven blocks. Sophomore Luisa Sydlik completed her 10th double-double of the season with 45 assists and 11 digs.
Hofstra now looks ahead to the CAA Tournament in Virginia at JMU, which begins on Thursday, Nov. 16. The No. 5 seed Pride will be matched up against No. 4 seed Northeastern University. The two teams split a pair of regular-season contests, with Hofstra most recently beating the Huskies on Nov. 8.
