Senior outside hitter Lauren Engle tallied 13 kills and 12 digs, while junior setter Chrissey Cruz added 36 assists, six kills and five digs to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to its first sweep of the season, a three-set win (25-22, 25-13, 25-23) over Boston College on Saturday afternoon at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, CT.
With its first sweep of the 2008 campaign, Hofstra evens its record at 4-4 after picking up its second straight victory. Boston College, who was also looking to bring its record to the .500 mark dropped to 3-5 with the loss.
Hofstra jumped out to a huge 10-3 lead in the first set before Boston College fought back and eventually got within two on numerous occasions. The Eagles would close the gap to one, at 23-22, before Hofstra put an end to any thoughts of a BC comeback as junior right side Monica Knight and Engle had back-to-back kills to give the Pride the win in the first set.
The Pride would jump out to another big lead in the second stanza, including a 20-10 advantage following a kill from junior outside hitter Harmonie Calinda. This time, however, Boston College would get no closer than nine the rest of the way as Cruz put Hofstra ahead 2-0 in the match with a kill at set point.
Looking to pick up its first dominating effort of the season, Hofstra needed to rally from a 16-15 deficit to pick up the win in the final set. Trailing by one, Hofstra used a 7-3 run to earn a 22-19 lead following a kill from senior middle blocker Ashley Legerretta. The Eagles would even the score at 23 later in the set before a Legerretta kill and an attack error by Boston College gave Hofstra its fourth win of the season.
Calinda added 10 kills and 11 digs in the match, while sophomore libero Jenna Connell tied for match-high honors with 14 digs. Hofstra hit .309 as a team in the match, the first time this season they have hit over. 300, while holding Boston College to a .140 hitting percentage.
Hofstra returns to action this evening at 7 p.m. when they close play at the Yale Invitational with a match against the host Bulldogs.
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