Volleyball falls to Towson in five-set showdown

The Hofstra volleyball team lost their second straight game against the Towson University Tigers and missed their chance to be crowned the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season champions on Sunday, Nov. 13, in a tough five-set loss. This was final game of the regular season for the Pride, setting the conference tournament seeding with Towson sitting at the top and Hofstra right behind them as the second-seeded. 

In the first set, Hofstra was not ready for the level of aggressiveness that Towson displayed. The Tigers put up nine unanswered points in the first few minutes of the set. Towson racked up five kills from Nina Cajic, Morgan Wilson and Fay Bakodimou. Towson steamrolled over the Pride by taking advantage of every error on Hofstra’s side of the net. 

The Pride made an effort to battle through their woes with a kill by Sarah Pierre to tighten the scoring gap to 20-8. A service error from Hofstra’s Clara Bal gave Towson the first set with a score of 25-12. 

With Hofstra now acutely aware of Towson’s aggressive play, the second set had a different tone. Both teams traded blows in a fairly even manner the whole way through. Tied at 14, the Pride was the first to slip as Towson picked up on their mistakes taking a 19-15 lead off a kill from Aayinde Smith.

However, Hofstra came storming back on three big kills from Izadora Stedile to make it a 20-20 game. With the offense picking up, the defense could not hold it down with three attack errors on Hofstra putting Towson in favor of match 24-21. 

A service error by the Pride’s libero Chiara Cucco sealed the deal for the Pride, giving the second set win to Towson 25-21. 

With their back against the wall, the Pride sought at least one win to avoid another three-game sweep. In the third, Hofstra took control fast and early, leading 11-6 off a kill by Bal. Once again, it looked like the game was slipping from their fingertips with two attack errors by Yagmur Cinel and Bal to make it an 11-9 game. The Pride seized the opportunity and scored seven unanswered points for an 18-9 lead, mostly from errors on the Tigers’ side of the net.  

With confidence now on their side, the Pride barreled through the rest of the set. Zyare Abdul-Rahim put the final nail in the coffin of the third set, claiming back a set 25-15. 

In the fourth, Hofstra got back to their dominant ways with a 9-3 lead on kills from Stedile and multiple arrack errors from the Tigers. Hofstra’s lead simmered on three consecutive kills from Cajic for a tied game at 17. The score kept fluctuating until Hofstra was able to capitalize on repeated attack errors and added kills by Stedile and Bal to make the score 24-20. Stedile added another kill for a fourth set score of 25-21 to send the Pride into a fifth set for the first time this season. 

With the position of top seed in the CAA on the line, the fifth set brought out the best in both teams. Towson started strong with a 9-3 run reminiscent of the first set, but no matter what the Pride provided on the court, the Tigers outdid any attempt to close the scoring gap. With a 14-8 lead, Towson was a point away from victory. The Pride offered two more kills from Stedile to make the score 14-11. However, Beatriz Alves’ service error ended the comeback bid, sealing the set, match and CAA top seed in Towson’s favor. 

Even with the loss at hand, Izadora Stedile set her single-season record for kills with 21 in the game. 

With the playoff seeding set, the Hofstra volleyball team heads to Maryland to go up against the College of William and Mary in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament on Thursday, Nov. 17.

Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/Hofstra Athletics