Charleston, SC – Senior Nuria Lopes da Silva recorded a match-high 17 kills and sophomore Hannah Klemm tallied 45 assists to lead the Hofstra Pride to a three-set victory over the James Madison Dukes in the semifinals of the 2014 Colonial Athletic Association Volleyball Championship at the College of Charleston Saturday evening. Set scores were 25-17, 28-26 and 28-26.

The 27 wins this season are the most since the 1989 team went 35-7. 

Hofstra, the second-seed in the Championship, will advance to play the top seed Cougars of the College of Charleston, a five-set winner over UNCW in the other semifinal on Saturday, at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Lopes da Silva posted a .306 (17-6-36) attack percentage and was tied for team–high honors with four block assists. Senior Kelsie Wills, the CAA Player of the Year, tallied 13 kills and five digs while senior Emily Burke added 11 kills and a .364 (11-3-22) attack percentage.

Klemm, the CAA Setter of the Year, recorded 45 assists and added three kills, six digs and four block assists. Junior Corrina Delgadillo posted 15 digs while junior Kaitlyn Krause and sophomore Sophia Black each notched 10 digs.

James Madison was led by senior Lizzy Briones with 12 kills, five block assists and a .290 (12-3-31) attack percentage. Junior Sarah Patterson added 26 assists, five digs, four kills and three block assists and freshman Taylor Austin added 21 digs. The Dukes recorded a .124 (34-19-121) attack percentage in the contest while the Pride tallied a .243 (57-22-144) hitting percentage.

In the first set, the Pride, behind Lopes de Silva trailed just once, at 1-0, before scoring six of the next seven points. The Dukes closed to within one twice, at 6-5 and 16-15, but Lopes da Silva tallied seven kills and a .385 (7-2-13) attack percentage as the Pride kept JMU at bay for a 25-17 victory. The All-CAA first team selection tallied four kills and had a block assist in the Pride's final nine points. Senior Kelsie Wills added four kills while sophomore Hannah Klemm added 15 assists. Junior Corrina Delgadillo recorded nine digs in the set.

The second set was much more competitive with 12 tied scores as the Pride took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 28-26 victory. Neither team was able to build more than a three-point lead in the set. The Pride led 18-15 before JMU scored four of the next five points to tie the score at 19-all. After three more tied scores, Hofstra on a kill by Lope da Silva and a JMU attack error opened a 24-22 lead. But the Dukes, behind three kills from Lizzy Briones, tied the score at 24-all and 25-all. After another tie at 26-26, the Pride closed the set out with consecutive attack errors by JMU for the 28-26 win.

The third set was another battle as the Pride opened up five-point leads at 11-6 and 15-10. But after the Pride continued to hold a four-point lead at 20-16 after a JMU service error, the Dukes rallied to tie the match at 24-all on a kill by sophomore Kate Whitmire. JMU took a 26-25 lead on a kill by sophomore Janey Goodman and a service ace by Sierra Hahn-Ventrell. But Wills and Burke sandwiched a JMU attack error to close out the set with the 28-26 victory.

Hofstra improved to 27-5 on the season while the Dukes of James Madison close out their season with a 17-14 mark.

The Pride, who will be making its second appearance in the CAA Championship match in the last three years, will be meeting the Cougars of the College of Charleston for the third time this season with each team winning a five-set match on the road.