Pride starts season strong with sweep over Wake Forest

The Hofstra University volleyball team opened their 2024 season with a 3-0 win over the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons on Friday, Aug. 30, at Varsity Arena.

With Wake Forest up 23-21, threatening to take the third set after a 4-1 run, Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur called a timeout. Her team responded like they had the whole match, by executing when it mattered most. The Pride stormed back with a 4-0 run to take the set 25-23 and earn their first victory.

Clara Bal and Izadora Stedile led the way for Hofstra with nine kills apiece, with the latter recording a game-high 17 digs. Iyanna Garvin and Emilly Nunes combined for 11 kills, with Garvin adding a pair of service aces for Hofstra. Beatriz Alves had the game-high in assists with 28 on the day to go along with seven digs.

Despite losing in straight sets, the Demon Deacons hung within arm’s reach of the Pride. Wake Forest sophomore Olivia Murphy returned to the floor, after missing all last season due to injury, and led her team with a game-high 10 kills. Sophomore Dior Charles chipped in eight kills of her own.

The Pride jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the first set as both teams struggled to find their footing, trading points back and forth as they looked for any momentum. Wake Forest eventually clawed back to make the score 16-15, but Hofstra began to find their stride. Garvin grabbed her third kill of the first set, sparking a 6-2 run that gave the Pride the breathing room to close out the set 25-21. She finished with five kills in the set to lead Hofstra.

A similar story played out in the second set as Hofstra quickly built off the previous set with an early 3-0 lead after back-to-back kills from Bal. A pair of errors from the Demon Deacons gave Hofstra another 6-2 lead, but both sides refused to yield any ground to the other. Wake Forest responded to each Hofstra run with one of their own, getting as close as 24-23 after kills from Olivia Franke and Sahara Maruska. The two graduate students combined for 12 kills in the game, 10 of them coming in the second set alone.

The Pride buckled down when they needed to as Stedile got her seventh kill of the game to close out the second set, shutting down Wake Forest’s chance at tying up the matchup.

The intensity reached an even higher level in the third and final set. Wake Forest matched Hofstra point for point, with the set containing 12 ties and seven lead changes, as the largest lead for either side was just two. With the score tied at 20, Murphy had the Demon Deacons on the verge of imposing a fourth set with three straight kills, forcing the timeout that set up the game-winning run from the Pride. Bal came out of the timeout and carried Hofstra across the finish line with two kills to tie the set, followed by her third assist, before closing out the match with her ninth kill.

This win puts Hofstra at 1-0 to begin the season as Wake Forest drops to 0-1 to start theirs. Hofstra’s next match in the Wake Forest invitational was on Saturday, Aug. 31 against the Naval Academy.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Jaylynn Nash LLC