By Kevin Carroll - ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
After Hofstra’s tremendous run last season culminated in a CAA championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the pressure was on for this year’s team to maintain those standards.
The Pride lost Emily Burke, Nuria Lopes da Silva, and Hofstra career kills leader to Kelsie Wills, losses that seemed to leave a huge void in the Pride’s attack.
However, new faces in the lineup made a huge impact so far this season for the Pride, posting a 12-6 record, with a 3-0 record in CAA play. The team seems to be gelling as of late, winning eight of their last ten matches after a slow start to the season.
“I think, as a team, we are improving on a daily basis, which is how we grow, with ten new players on the roster,” said head coach Emily Mansur.
There are a lot of new players taking the court for Hofstra this season. Some players are new additions to the roster, like Leticia Valente and Nanishka Perez. Others are seeking more of a defined role, like second-year player Brianna Montgomery.
“I think a lot of the new athletes who came in have really stepped up, and are really creating their place on the team,” said Mansur about all of the fresh faces in the Pride lineup.
With so many available spots, the new additions to the lineup have wasted no time in providing a huge boost to the team. Valente, a sophomore transfer student from Mississippi State, was forcde to be reckoned with up front, racking up 214 kills, good for second on the Pride. She’s also hitting an incredible .362 attack average, with double-digit kills in 13 of the Pride’s 18 matches this season. She’s proven herself as a leader on the court as she was named a team captain in just her first season at Hofstra.
While Valente may have had the most noticeable impact out of all of the Pride’s new players, Hofstra also received boosts from players like Nanishka Perez and Michaela Rucli, both freshmen.
Rucli, in particular, was a pleasant surprise for the Pride. “When I recruited her [Rucli], I had great plans for her…she’s really becoming an effective middle for us,” said Mansur about the freshman from Italy. She was already named CAA Defensive Player of the Week twice this season.
Another emerging freshman is libero Luisa Domingues, who was brilliant on the back line so far this season while fighting for the libero spot with veteran Corinna Delgadillo. Domingues leads the team with 236 digs, and saw time in every set that Hofstra played so far.
Of course The Pride does return a few essential players to bolster this lineup. Outside hitter Veronika Kostova, a key player in last year’s squad, played well as the center of the Pride attack, leading the team with 264 kills. However, recently she followed up a 19 kill performance against Florida Gulf Coast with a meager 5 kills later that night against Hartford.
“Some matches she’s great, and [she is] what we need her to be; some matches, she takes a step back,” said Mansur. “She has to be the number one outside [hitter], all the time, and I just feel she’s getting used to the pressure.”
Hannah Klemm also provided a huge boost for the Pride; she leads the NCAA in assists with an astounding 819. Delgadillo made a good impact during her time on the court this season, keeping pace with Domingues with 234 digs.
Unfortunately, those numbers are only good enough for 8th in the CAA, a far cry from the team’s top-notch offensive performance.
“Having two great liberos, having Sophia Black returning, we have three very good back row players and we haven’t been able to perform to their level,” said Mansur.
Another thing to note is that the Pride was in six five-set matches already this season, 1/3 of their schedule so far. Hofstra made out 3-3 in those matches. “I do think we have to create a sense of urgency a little more,” said Mansur in regards to her team’s performance.
Now that Hofstra navigated its non-conference schedule, it will have a tough time heading into CAA play, with teams like James Madison, UNCW and Towson that are all looking strong. With the fact that all of these teams will be looking to knock Hofstra off the top of the mountain, the road ahead gets even rockier for the Pride.
“We need to play with passion,” said Mansur. “Some athletes play just enough to get by, and ‘just enough to get by’ doesn’t win the CAA. We have to play the best that we can every day.”
Another intangible that Mansur preaches, especially to her young team, is the value of maturity. Despite the team only has three returning everyday players, Mansur likes what she sees from her young team. “I’m very pleasantly surprised how we are turning out to be… with such a new team,” said Mansur. “There was no excuse, win or lose, because you are young, but it’s really nice to see them starting to grow and be mature enough to be able to handle the pressure of the matches.”
Hofstra continues their CAA schedule with a trip down to the College of Charleston on Thursday. It will be the first in a five match road trip for the Pride, not returning home until late Delaware. It is still a long way to go, and time will tell whether the Pride’s young guns have what it takes to bring a second straight CAA championship and second straight NCAA berth, home to Hofstra.