Hempstead, NY – Junior Nikki Kinnier reached the 1,000 kill plateau early in the first set and tallied a match-high 21 kills, but William & Mary rallied from a 2-0 hole in the match as they earned a five-set win over Hofstra on Friday evening at the Hofstra Fitness Center.
Kinnier became just the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills and she now has 1,020 kills after entering the match with 999.
William & Mary won by scores of 14-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-21 and 16-14 to improve to 9-6 and 2-0 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. Hofstra falls to 12-8 and 0-2 in league action.
Sophomore Kelsie Wills tied Kinnier for match-high honors with 21 kills, while adding 16 digs. Kinnier added four blocks. Hofstra got a solid match out of junior Sara Campolina, who chipped in with nine kills, seven blocks, three digs and three assists.
William & Mary was led by Dessie Koleva, who had 15 kills and nine digs. Molly Krull added 26 assists and 12 digs.
Hofstra got off to a great start in the opening set, hitting at a .350 clip, in dominating the Tribe to the tune of 25-14. The second set would be much closer, though, as Hofstra needed “extra time” to earn a narrow 26-24 victory.
The remaining sets of the match would follow what occurred in the second set as a total of 10 points separated the squads in the second through fifth set.
William & Mary got on the board with a two-point win, 25-23, in the third set. It was a defensive struggle in that stanza as both teams hit below .100 with William & Mary finally able to earn the win.
The Tribe would knot the match at two sets apiece with a 25-21 win in the fourth set, as they had their second-highest hitting percentage of the contest (.212).
The highly-entertaining and closely contest match would go down to the wire with neither team able to pull away in the decisive final set. Hofstra jumped out to an early lead, but William & Mary fought back and eventually knotted the score at 11 after a kill from Koleva. The contest would go back and forth from there with a kill from Kinnier tying the set at 14 before the Tribe scored the final two points of the stanza to earn the five-set victory.
Senior Catalina Charry had an all-around strong match for the Pride with 44 assists, 13 digs, six kills and three blocks. Senior Kylee Maneja posted a match-high 19 digs for Hofstra.
Hofstra returns to action on Sunday when it hosts UNC Wilmington at 1 p.m. at the Hofstra Fitness Center.
