By Marco Meglio — STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra women’s volleyball team continued to stay hot Tuesday, sweeping Seton Hall 3-0 in route to their fifth win in six games.
After a rocky 0-3 start to the season, Hofstra now sits at 6-5 on the season.
Right from the start, sophomore phenom and CAA Rookie of the Year Laura Masciullo showed her dominance. She led all players with 17 kills while adding three digs. This is the second straight game she has put up double-figure kill totals.
Her right-hand woman was freshman Ivania Ortiz, who chipped in nine kills, seven digs and three service aces. Masciullo and Ortiz have been the driving force to Hofstra’s success lately, as their 137 and 133 kills top the team leaderboards.
In one of the most lopsided matches of the season, the Pride dominated the Pirates in almost every offensive statistic category. Hofstra registered nine aces in three sets, while Seton Hall failed to register a single ace. In addition, Hofstra tallied 15 more points, 10 more kills and nine more assists.
The key to the Pride’s game was consistency. In all three sets they had 14,13 and 14 kills each, while only limiting themselves to a total of 13 errors.
In the first set both teams continued to go back and forth, but a late 3-0 run by the Pride gave them a 23-20 lead, a lead they would not look back on.
The Pride showed excellent defense in the second set, taking it 25-18 while only allowing seven kills from the Pirates.
For the third and final set, Hofstra started out on a 6-2 run and would not relinquish that lead for the rest of the game. They went on to take the set 25-20, completing the sweep.
Setter Luisa Sydlik had another impressive game as well, dishing out 37 assists, putting her at 485 for the season. She has consistently put up at least 30 assists in every game she has played this season.
As for the Pirates, coming into the match they had won five of their previous seven. They drop to 6-4 on the season and have a date with a scorching hot Northwestern team this Friday.
The Pride will look to keep the momentum going as they head home to play Binghamton University this Friday as part of the Hofstra Asics Invitational.
