College Park, MD – Junior setter Hannah Klemm had 46 assists and nine digs to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a three sets to one victory over Duquesne in the season opener for both teams on Friday morning at the Maryland Invitational. 

Junior outside hitter Veronika Kostova led all players in the match with 18 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Leticia Valente added 17 for the Pride. Senior libero Corrina Delgadillo and freshman outside hitter Luisa Domingues each posted 15 digs for Hofstra and freshman middle blocker Michela Rucli notched a team-best eight blocks. 

With the win Hofstra is 1-0 in 2015, while Duquesne moves to 0-1. 

Set scores were 25-18, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-17. 

With the match tied at one set apiece, Hofstra looked to be in trouble in the third stanza as the Pride trailed 23-16 before mounting a stunning rally to capture the set and retake the lead in the match. 

Hofstra scored seven straight points to knot the score at 23 as Valente had a trio of kills during the run to pace the Pride offense. Trailing once again at 24-23, Valente had another kill and Kostova tallied a kill of her own to allow Hofstra to eventually capture the set 26-24. 

Hofstra had a relatively easy time in the opening stanza of the season as the Pride hit at a .345 clip to earn the first set win. 

The second set was tied at 18 before Duquesne scored five straight points to take a commanding lead en route to the narrow two-point win. 

Following the exciting third set, Hofstra was never seriously challenged in the final set as they jumped out to a 15-10 lead and cruised to the eight-point win following a service ace from Valente. 

NOTES
- With her 46 assists in the match, Klemm now has 2,035 career assists and becomes only the ninth player in program history to record at least 2,000 career assists. She ranks eighth all-time as today she passed Beth Arnette (2,027 from 2000-03). 
- The 18 kills recorded by Kostova in the match marked a new career-high for the third-year player. Her previous career-high of 17 came on a pair of occasions, last vs. UNCW on October 24, 2014. 
- Valente, a transfer from Mississippi State, had 17 kills in her Hofstra debut and established a new career-high in that category. Her previous high of 13 came against Southeastern Missouri on September 5, 2014. 
- Hofstra improved to 1-0 all-time against Duquesne. 
- Hofstra won its season opener for the fifth straight season.