Hempstead, NY – Sophomore Kelsie Wills had a match-high 18 kills and added a .350 hitting percentage to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over UNCW on Sunday afternoon at the Hofstra Fitness Center.
The win ended a short two-match losing skid for Hofstra, which improved to 13-8 overall and 1-2 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Seahawks fall to 7-11 and 0-3 in conference with the defeat.
Set scores were 25-22, 18-25, 25-18 and 25-18 in favor of the Pride.
Wills also added 10 digs for her team-leading tenth double-double of the season.
Hofstra jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match as they rallied from a late 22-20 deficit in the first set, scoring the final five points of the stanza to win 25-22. Wills had a pair of kills during the run to lead the way.
The second set would go UNCW's way as the Seahawks broke a 12-all tie with a quick 5-0 scoring run and never looked back in posting the 25-18 victory.
Hofstra would be clicking on all cylinders in the third stanza as the Pride hit at a .385 clip, while holding the Seahawks to a negative .120 attack percentage in matching UNCW with a 25-18 win themselves. The set was tied at 17 before the Pride closed the stanza by scoring eight of the final nine points.
Looking to close out the match in four sets, Hofstra broke away early as a kill from sophomore Adama Aja made the score 9-8 and kick-started a 8-1 scoring run that gave the Pride a commanding 16-9 lead following a kill from senior Catalina Charry. The deficit would prove too much to overcome for UNCW as Hofstra closed out the match with a kill from junior Nikki Kinnier.
Kinnier joined Wills in double figures as she had 10 kills, along with four blocks and two digs. Aja posted a match-high nine blocks and added a career-high seven kills. Senior Kylee Maneja picked up a match-best 15 digs and Charry had 35 assists, seven kills and four digs.
Sarah Fitzgerald led UNCW with 15 kills and three blocks. Morgan Kline added 11 digs and seven kills.
Hofstra returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Iona for its final non-conference match of the season. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
