By Regina Volpe — STAFF WRITER
Bouncing back from a loss to the University of Alabama, the Hofstra Pride volleyball team won three straight sets in a matchup against the Tennessee State University Tigers this past Saturday.
The Pride finished the weekend in impressive fashion, picking up the straight-sets victory with scores of 25-16, 25-21 and 25-16.
This match was Hofstra’s third and final of the Hampton Inn Bama Bash and the Pride’s second win of the weekend. Both teams came into this match up with four wins and five losses under their belts for the season. With this win the Pride advanced to 5-5 on the season, while the Tigers fell to 4-6.
Sophomores Laura Masciullo and Luisa Sydlik proved to be valuable members for the Pride offense in this contest. Masciullo tallied 13 kills for the Pride, leading the team in points earned. Likewise, Sydlik racked up 34 assists across the three sets of the match, leading the team in assists.
Freshman Ana Martinovic also had a strong offensive showing in the match. She trailed right behind Masciullo with 12 points scored — the most points she has earned thus far in her first season with the Pride. Of her 12 points earned, Martinovic tallied eight kills during the match.
Hofstra totaled nearly double the amount of kills the Tigers tallied, finishing with 43 kills in total while the Tigers managed to tally just 25.
The Pride defense also had an impressive showing. Freshman Julia Van Fleet led the team in digs — racking up 19 by the end of the third set.
The Pride managed to maintain the lead over the Tigers during each set. The first set ended with a 25-16 deficit. Tennessee attempted to push back during the second set, successfully rattling off seven unanswered points.
However, Hofstra would regroup and hold on, powering past the Tigers’ surge to finish the set with a 25-21 win.
Tennessee attempted to make a comeback in the third and final set of the match, knotting things up at five points apiece. A series of kills and aces from the Pride, along with attack errors from the Tigers’ side put Hofstra up 16-5. This deficit proved to be too large for the Tigers to overcome.
The final score for the last set was 25-16 which sealed the win for the Pride.
On top of solid performance from the Pride, Hofstra also benefited from Tennessee errors. By the third set TSU racked up 18 attack errors while the Pride only allowed 14.
The Pride travels to Seton Hall University to face off against the Pirates (6-2) for their next match in South Orange, New Jersey on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
