By Marco Meglio -- STAFF WRITER The Hofstra volleyball team overcame a two-set deficit to defeat Northeastern 3-2 on Thursday Thursday evening. The scores were 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 21-19 in five sets for the opening round of Colonial Athletic Association Championship.
The win moves the Pride to 18-13 on the season and 9-7 in conference play.
Hofstra struggled early, letting sloppy play dictate the first set and giving Northeastern the momentum early on. The Huskies first eight points came off Hofstra errors. Not a single point was produced from a kill. Northeastern stuck to a quiet lead early but then grabbed the 1-0 lead following a 9-4 run to close out the set.
The second set remained similar to the first. After claiming a 14-13 lead, the Huskies went on a quick 4-0 run, separating themselves from the Pride. Contributions from sophomore Amy Underdown continued to be the driving force to what looked to be a Huskies victory. The superstar sophomore notched 25 kills on the afternoon, the fifth time this season she was able to hit the 20-kill mark.
In the third set, the Huskies went up big early, staking a 12-5 lead against the Pride. Just when it looked the book for the Pride’s season might be closed, they bounced back. A 7-1 run, powered by a multitude of Northeastern mistakes, left the door wide open for Hofstra. They capitalized, finishing the set strong and cutting the score to 2-1.
The most consistent set came in the fourth when the Pride went toe to toe with the Huskies. Both teams largest lead in the set was five, and that came late when Hofstra began to separate. For the second straight set Ivanka Ortiz provided the set-ending kill. She had 12 kills on the afternoon, only second to Laura Mascuillo.
After being down 2-0, the Pride entered the fifth and final set confident having closed the gap and swung the momentum their way. The fifth set was tightly contested, with the Pride finding themselves down 18-17 in crunch time. Two errors committed by Northeastern, a service ace from Caylie Denham and a game ending kill from Laura Mascuillo was all the Pride needed to close out Northeastern.
The win advances Hofstra into the second round, where they will play the College of Charleston Friday at 7 p.m. in Harrisburg, Virginia.