Wilmington, NC – Senior outside hitter Kelsie Wills had 17 kills and a .368 hitting percentage to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a convincing three-set sweep of UNCW on Sunday afternoon at Hanover Hall.

Set scores were 25-21, 25-18 and 25-22 in favor of the Pride, which has now won five straight matches. It is Hofstra's second win streak of at least five matches this year as they previously had a six-match win streak.

The win improves Hofstra's record to 14-2 overall and 2-0 in league play. It is the program's second-best start after 16 matches, only bested by the 1988 team's 15-1 record. UNCW falls to 11-5 and 1-1 in conference action. Hofstra also improved to 21-4 all-time against the Seahawks.

Sophomore middle blocker Veronika Kostova added 10 kills for Hofstra, while sophomore setter Hannah Klemm notched 41 assists and five digs.

UNCW was led by Alyssa Desjardins' 18 assists and eight digs.

Both teams competed well early on in the first set and a tight stanza would see it tied at 16 before Hofstra began to make its move. A kill from Kostova would start a 5-1 scoring run for the Pride that put Hofstra ahead 21-17. Hofstra kept the Seahawks at a distance the rest of the set and a kill from Wills, who had six in the opening stanza, ended the set and gave the Pride the early advantage.

A kill from Kristen Powell of UNCW knotted the score at four early on in the second set before Hofstra took complete control with a 6-0 run to open up a 10-4 lead. Senior middle blocker Adama Aja and Wills each had kills during the run, a spurt that was aided by four attack errors from the Seahawks. The early run by Hofstra would prove to be the difference in the second stanza as the Pride never allowed UNCW to make a set of it and eventually captured a commanding seven-point win to take the 2-0 lead in the match.

The momentum of the second set clearly carried over to the next stanza for the Pride as Hofstra scored the first four points of the set and never looked back in posting the dominating victory.

Senior middle blocker Nuria Lopes da Silva added six kills for the Pride, while Aja and senior outside hitter Emily Burke each tallied four blocks. Sophomore libero Sophia Black picked up 13 digs.

Powell and Morgan Kline had nine and eight kills, respectively, for the Seahawks.

Hofstra outhit UNCW, .279 to .119, to capture the sweep.

Hofstra is back on the court next Friday when it begins a three-match home stand with a 7 p.m. contest against Towson.