Hempstead, NY – Sophomore outside hitter Kelsie Wills posted a career and match-high 27 kills, to go along with her 15 digs and five blocks to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a five-set win over Siena on Friday evening at the Mack Physical Education Center in the Hofstra Invitational.
Hofstra earned the hard-fought five-set win after winning the first two sets. Set scores were 25-20, 25-21, 30-32, 16-25 and 15-10. It was the Pride's first five-set match this season.
The win was Hofstra's sixth straight to start the 2012 campaign as Hofstra is now 6-0 this season. Siena falls to 2-4 with the loss.
Sophomore outside hitter Emily Burke had the best match of her career as the Staten Island, NY native posted a career-high 17 kills in the match. Junior middle blocker Nikki Kinnier was second on the team with 19 kills.
Strong defense and solid offense led Hofstra early in the match as the Pride help Siena below a .200 hitting percentage in the first two sets to jump out to a two sets to none lead in the match.
The third stanza was the most exciting of the match as both teams had several chances to put the set away, and for the Pride it was several missed opportunities to put the match away. There were 16 tie scores and nine lead changes in the set with the Saints finally pulling out a 32-30 win to force a fourth set.
Siena hit at a .325 clip in the third set and that offensive showing continued into the fourth stanza as the Saints tied the match up at two sets apiece with a 25-16 win after hitting .483 in the fourth set.
Hofstra, after seeing Siena come from behind to knot the match, came out on fire in the final set and was never seriously challenged in posting a 15-10 victory. The Pride hit .400 in the set, while their stellar defense held the Saints to just a .056 hitting percentage.
Senior setter Catalina Charry fell one assist shy of her career-high as she dished out 55 assists in the match, while also adding six digs. Junior middle blocker Sara Campolina led Hofstra with seven blocks, while senior libero Kylee Maneja had 25 digs for the Pride. Maneja now has 1,599 career digs and needs just one more dig to become only the second player in program history to reach the 1,600-dig plateau.
Sophomore middle blocker Adama Aja had a strong match with six kills on seven attempts (no errors), while also adding four blocks.
Lesli Akeo had 30 digs and five assists for Siena, while Taylor Akana was second on the team with 14 kills and 20 digs.
Hofstra returns to action tomorrow for day two of the Hofstra Invitational. The Pride will take on St. Francis (NY) at 1:30 p.m. before closing tournament play with a 7:30 p.m. match against Princeton.
