Elon, NC – Hofstra University senior outside hitter Kelsie Wills put another stamp on becoming arguably the greatest player in program history as the Matamata, New Zealand, native broke the school record for career kills as her 23 kills in the match tonight put her alone in first place with 1,657 career kills.

Hofstra defeated Elon, three sets to one, as the Pride won by scores of 25-21, 25-18, 19-25 and 25-21.

Wills broke the record previously held by Lena Malinowski, who had 1,654 career kills from 1994-98.

The win improves Hofstra's record to 13-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Elon falls to 5-11 and 0-1 in league action.

The match was the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener for both teams. Hofstra is now 10-4 in CAA openers since joining the league in 2001.

Hofstra scored the first four points of the match against the Phoenix and would continue to lead throughout the set until Elon put a late scare into the Pride. After Elon cut the score to 23-21, a kill from Wills would make it 24-21 before a Phoenix attack error ended the set and gave the Pride the early lead in the match. Senior middle blocker Nuria Lopes da Silva was huge early on for Hofstra as she had three kills on the Pride's first four points of the stanza.

The Pride would take a commanding two sets to none lead in the contest as they won the second stanza, 25-18. The set was knotted at eight before Hofstra scored four straight points, including two service aces from Wills, to open a 12-8 lead. The Pride would open up an eight-point advantage on a pair of occasions later in the set and were never seriously challenged as a kill from senior middle blocker Adama Aja followed by an Elon attack error ended the set.

Elon would fight back in the third set and send the contest to a fourth stanza as the Phoenix earned a 25-19 win.

A back and forth fourth set would see the two squads tied at 14 before Hofstra used a 5-0 scoring run to take a 19-14 lead late in the set and put the Pride in a position to earn the victory. At that point all that was left for Hofstra was to see Wills break the record and she did it in style as it came during that 5-0 run; making the score 16-14 at the time. The match would end on a kill from sophomore middle blocker Veronika Kostova that would continue the Pride's start to the season – which is the second-best in program history.

Kostova was second on the Pride in kills with 12, while Lopes da Silva added 10 kills. Klemm finished with 51 assists and nine digs. Wills also had a match and personal season-high 17 digs in the contest. It was her fifth double-double of the season.

Chelsea Rafetto had 34 assists for the Phoenix, while Megan Gravley led Elon with 16 kills.

Hofstra continues its southern swing as it will head to Wilmington on Sunday to face UNCW at 1 p.m.