Despite 21 kills and 18 digs from senior outside hitter Tessa Sphar (San Jose, CA) and a career-high 32 digs from junior libero Catherine Durakis (Cresskill, NJ), the Hofstra Volleyball team was unable to overcome a two games to zero deficit as they fell in five games (27-30, 24-30, 31-29, 30-26, 13-15) to Towson on Friday evening in the Volleyball Venue at the Physical Fitness Center. The loss ends Hofstra's 10-match win streak, which was the program's longest since a 14-match streak in 2000.

Towson sophomore setter Kim Snider (Carrollton, TX) tallied a rare triple-double in the match as she had 64 assists, 15 digs and 10 kills on 17 attempts with no errors for a .588 hitting percentage. Towson got a match-high 22 kills from senior outside hitter April Hoffman (Omaha, NE), while freshman libero Alison Essink (Lincoln, NE) picked up a team-high 24 digs for the victorious Tigers. Hoffman also added 23 digs and three service aces in the match.

With the loss, Hofstra falls to 17-7 overall and 14-2 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play, while Towson improves to 23-6 and 11-4 in conference action. The loss was Hofstra's first five-game defeat since falling to UC-Irvine back on August 27. The Pride had won four straight five-game matches.

Hofstra was looking to overcome a two-deficit in the match for the first time since October 8, 1996 when they defeated Rutgers in five games after dropping the first two.

Towson looked to make quick work of Hofstra in the match as they took the first two games, including 30-24 decision in game two to go up two games to zero in the match. The Tigers had a distinct advantage on the offensive end in the first two games as they hit at a .242 clip compared to Hofstra's .114 attack percentage in the first two games combined.

Midway through game three, the Tigers held a narrow 15-12 advantage before Hofstra gradually rebounded and eventually took the lead at 19-18 following a kill from junior middle blocker Elizabeth Curley (Centerville, MA). Three straight Tiger errors would give Hofstra its largest lead of the game at 24-21 before Towson staged a rally of its own and knotted the score at 29 after a kill from Snider. With the outcome of the game and match in the balance, back-to-back kills from Curley and Sphar gave the Pride the game three victory and extended the match.

Hofstra would fall behind early in game four as well, and trailed 16-13 following a kill from Towson. The Pride fell behind by two at 20-18 before a 6-1 spurt gave them a 24-21 advantage and Hofstra would not look back from there in posting the four-point game four victory. Sophomore right side Talita Silva (Raritan, NJ) led Hofstra with seven kills on 12 attempts with no errors in game four, while Hoffman led the Tigers with seven kills on 23 attempts with just one error.

A kill from junior outside hitter Beverly Rivera (Long Beach, NY) gave Hofstra an early 2-1 lead in game five before Towson scored seven of the next 11 points of the stanza to lead 8-6 midway through the decisive final game. Hofstra quickly evened the score at nine before a quick 3-0 Towson run put the Tigers three points from the victory. A kill from Sphar and back-to-back attack errors from Towson once again evened the score before senior middle blocker Lindsey Hardin (Moorpark, CA) gave the Tigers the lead for good with her 15th kill of the match. With Towson clinging to a one-point lead at 14-13, Hardin once again came up huge as she knocked down her 16th kill of the match and gave the Tigers their second straight win. Hardin hit at a .520 clip for the match with those 16 kills on 25 attempts with just three errors.

Sophomore setter Shellane Ogoshi (Honolulu, HI) added 55 assists and 19 digs in recording her team-high 20th double-double of the season, while Silva nearly tallied a triple-double with 16 kills, 14 digs and nine assists.

Hardin added a match-high six blocks in the match, and junior middle blocker Christina Grempler (Severna Park, MD) added 13 kills and four blocks.

Hofstra returns to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they host Delaware in their final regular season home match of 2005. Hofstra will celebrate "Senior Day" prior to the match against the Fightin' Blue Hens, as seniors Jessica Levy (Wantagh, NY) and Tessa Sphar (San Jose, CA) will be making their final regular season home appearance in the Volleyball Venue at the Physical Fitness Center.