About two weeks ago, the Pride was shut out by the Northeastern Huskies 3-0. On Wednesday, Oct. 26, Hofstra got payback with a 3-2 win in a hard-fought match at home.
Each of the first three sets were played competitively. The teams had a combined 19 ties and eight lead changes. Both teams played aggressive on the offensive end and Hofstra was able to take two of those three matches.
On the other hand, the final two sets were very one-sided. Northeastern won the fourth set 25-16 with a strong defensive showing as they held Hofstra to a .062 attack percentage. Hofstra came out with fire for set five, opening it up with a 10-3 run and ultimately ended up winning 15-9 with a .444 attack percentage.
"I think both teams played good volleyball so it was nice to see that the outcome came our way. I thought our team really fought hard and I think it was a good overall performance by the group. Everyone that was here was involved," said Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur.
Freshman star Laura Masciullo had yet another outstanding offensive performance with 23 kills – which is the most she has gotten in a match this season – she is now over the 300 kills mark with 309 in total. Along with Masciullo, Paola Figueroa stepped up with 15 kills as Veronika Kostova did not play in the match.
"Paola Figueroa really stepped up today for us and it was amazing to see. I had mentioned her name at the beginning of the day today and I was just very happy to see her breakthrough and continue to grow towards the end of the season," Mansur said.
Other top performances came from Hannah Klemm with 31 assists, Luisa Sydlik with 24 assists and Sophia Black's strong defensive performance. Black recorded 24 digs, which is the most for her in a single game this season.
"She's really playing really well and it's nice to see [how] she has grown so much with the program [she] has been here since the beginning. It's really exciting to see. She's a senior and she's doing a really phenomenal job," Mansur said.
Coming up this weekend, the Pride looks to get some more revenge as it plays its final two matches at home for the season. First, Hofstra faces-off against UNCW and then plays the College of Charleston.