By Nico Bermudez -- STAFF WRITER
On Saturday night, the Pride volleyball team was beaten in a hard-fought match by the Syracuse Orange three sets to one. It was the team’s first home loss after winning 15 straight games here on campus.
“We were not ready, we were not ready to defend our home. We never talk about the winning streak or anything like this, but the way that we stepped on the court today was unacceptable.” Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur said after Saturday’s loss in the finale of the annual Hofstra/Asics Invitational.
Syracuse won the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-19. Hofstra was able to stave off a sweep by winning the third set 25-23, but a hard-fought fourth set went the way of the Orange by a 26-24 score, sealing the win for Syracuse.
Coach Mansur is evidently upset with the way her team came out to play this game and definitely does not expect it to happen again.
“It was a good two last sets we competed, but just not a fairly brave effort from our side coming into this match,” Mansur said.
Throughout the first two sets, the Pride looked totally discombobulated. The defense was on their heels as Syracuse was much more aggressive on the floor.
“Emma has been growing a lot for us, she really challenged Syracuse’s big block and that was really important to see,” Mansur said.
A bright spot in this game for Hofstra was freshman Emma Price. In her first season of play with the Pride, she continues to impress. Against Syracuse she was tied for the team lead in kills with twelve. Through her first eleven matches, she has averaged three kills per set and has a total of 99 kills.
“Oh it’s great. We really have to thank everyone that comes and hopefully they can continue to be entertained and want to be here and come to the matches… That’s why I said it’s unacceptable to not play with pride because everyone is here for us.”
For how sluggish the Pride began the game, when they began to fight back in the third and fourth sets, the crowd sensed the team’s energy and started to engage with the match. Chants of “Let’s go Hofstra!” roared inside the Mack Physical Education Center.
The team itself definitely fed off the crowd’s spirit as their own energy was clearly enhanced as a result. After the match, the team traveled over to the crowd and applauded them and thanked them for their support.
Next weekend the Pride will begin CAA play at the Mack Physical Education Center against the College of Charleston.
“We’re going against the number one picked team in the conference. The plan is we have to be ten times better than what we were today,” Mansur said.
This game is slated for Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.