For their sixth straight win, the Hofstra University volleyball team triumphed over Northeastern University 3-1 on Friday, Oct. 11, at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center. The Pride move to 10-6 overall and 6-1 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Hofstra rode a balanced attack with juniors Clara Bal and Izadora Stedile leading the way with 17 and 14 kills respectively, while freshman Constanza Perez Sain added 13 kills. Stedile reached a new career-high in digs with 23 and senior Beatriz Alves had a game-high 34 assists in her best performance since returning from injury on Sept. 20.
“Northeastern is a good team coming from a lot of victories so it’s nice to see different people contributing and helping to make this happen,” said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur. “We want to see these types of numbers across the board, and we want to see a balanced offense. It makes us a better team if they don’t know where the ball is going.”
Both sides were slow to find their footing, trading service and attack errors early on in the first set. The Huskies took advantage of the Hofstra errors to go on a 5-1 run and take a 10-6 lead. The Pride responded with a 9-2 run of their own to regain control. The continued errors from the Pride, coupled with four kills from Northeastern Brynn Smith made the difference as the Huskies held off the Pride 25-22.
“At that point it was really just about us,” Mansur said. “We gave them the five service errors and then a couple more attacking errors. At that point we had already given them 11 points. You can’t win that way.”
The Pride started strong in the second set, taking a 19-4 lead, including nine straight points for a period of time. They cleaned up the errors while picking up three service aces to go up big. The Huskies tried to claw their way back, getting as close as 24-13, however, Bal finished things off with her fifth kill of the set to level the match at a set each.
“[Bal] has been playing well. She had a very tough start, and it was good for us to see that she could come out of it,” Mansur said. “She wants the ball. For us, honestly, at the end of games, we don’t tell our setters where to go, it’s who they feel confident with and she’s passing that to the setters which is a great thing for her and us.”
The Pride grew in confidence as they continued to play their game in the third set, leading nearly the entire way before pulling away to win the frame 25-16. The Huskies, looking to force a fifth set, hung around as they matched Hofstra late into the set with 18 points apiece. The Pride finished strong, taking seven of the final nine points to take the set 25-20, securing the match.
“I know that we have another gear and that’s what we’re working to get,” Mansur said. “For us as a coaching staff we would love six victories, but we look at it one game at a time … We know that we are better than this and we want to build by the end of the season to become a great, aggressive, all-around team.”
Hofstra faced off against the Huskies again on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Photo courtesy of Ethan Albin
