West Point, NY - Graduate student outside hitter Marina Markovic had her second straight solid match with 12 kills, seven digs and two blocks, but Bryant rallied after dropping the first set to defeat Hofstra in four sets on Friday evening at Army's West Point Challenge. 

Senior setter Rachel August had her team-leading third double-double of the season in the match with 38 assists and 10 digs, while freshman middle blocker Ayesha Hein chipped in with five kills, seven blocks, three service aces and three digs.

The loss drops Hofstra's record to 5-9 this season, while Bryant improves to 9-5.  Set scores were 25-19, 24-26, 14-25 and 19-25.
In the first set Hofstra turned a 5-4 deficit into a 13-7 advantage courtesy of a 9-2 run that culminated with a block from Markovic.  Hofstra would stay in control the remainder of the set as they would hold as much as a nine-point advantage, 20-11, following a kill from redshirt freshman outside hitter Nikki Kinnier.  Markovic put the finishing touches on the set win as she put down a kill off an assist from August, giving Hofstra the 25-19 victory.

The second set looked to be all Bryant as the Bulldogs raced out to a 20-12 lead before Hofstra mounted a rally.  A block from freshman right side Savannah Benton and freshman middle blocker Hein would kick-start an 11-3 run that would see Hofstra even the score at 23 on a kill from sophomore middle blocker Carolyn Jenkins.  After Markovic tied the score at 24 on a kill, the Bulldogs evened the match at one set apiece as Jadith Lorenzo notched a kill and a block from Maria Scocca and Kaitlyn Klein gave Bryant the 26-24 win.

Bryant took a two sets to one lead in the match as they led from start to finish in the third stanza en route to the 25-14 final tally.  The Bulldogs scored seven of the first eight points in the set and Hofstra could never recover.

Hofstra would need to come from behind to win the match as they were down 2-1 entering the fourth set.  A block from Benton and Hein early in the stanza knotted the score at three before Bryant used an 8-1 run to take an 11-4 lead following a service ace from Maria Scocca.  Hofstra would fall behind 18-10 later in the set before a quick 3-0 run brought the Pride to within 18-13 after a Bulldog attack error.  Bryant would keep Hofstra at bay the remainder of the set as the Pride closed to 23-19, but the Bulldogs took the set and the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set. 

Jenkins finished with 10 kills for Hofstra, while Benton and freshman outside hitter Shelby Young each added six kills.  Benton also tied for team-high honors with seven blocks. 

Bryant got 12 kills apiece from Scocca and Klein, while Jazmin Stoner added 10 kills and six digs. 

After a day off tomorrow Hofstra will face Air Force at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday before closing play at the West Point Challenge with a 7:30 p.m. match against Army.