Hempstead, NY – Freshman Laura Masciullo had a career and match-high 23 kills and junior Paola Figueroa tallied a career-best 15 kills to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a five-set win over Northeastern on Wednesday evening at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center. 

The win was an important one for Hofstra as it avenged a three-set sweep by the Huskies less than two weeks ago and more importantly inched the Pride closer to the top of the Colonial Athletic Association standings. Northeastern came into the match tied for first. 

With the win, Hofstra is now 17-7 and 7-4 in league play, while Northeastern is 18-7 and 8-3 in CAA action. In the updated standings, Charleston is in first at 8-2 and followed by Northeastern and Hofstra. 

Set scores were 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 16-15 and 15-9 in favor of the Pride. 

It was a back and forth affair featuring 24 tie scores and nine lead changes throughout the five sets among the conference heavyweights. 

With the match tied at one set each, Hofstra used a strong offensive set in the third stanza as they hit at a .316 clip to take the lead. Northeastern responded, though, and heled Hofstra to a .062 attack percentage to send the match to a fifth and final set. 

In the final set, Hofstra left no doubt as Masciullo slammed down kills on the first two points and she was followed by a pair of kills from sophomore Michela Rucli. In total, Hofstra would score the first five points of the stanza and would hold a 10-3 lead as Northeastern was forced to use both of its timeouts. The Pride held a dominating 14-6 advantage before the Huskies scored three straight points. Figueroa would put an exclamation point on her tremendous night as she ended the contest with her 15th kill. 

Senior Sophia Black posted a season-high 24 digs for Hofstra, which also got 11 kills and five blocks from Rucli. Senior Hannah Klemm tallied 31 assists, while freshman Luisa Sydlik had 24 assists. 

Kristen Walding tallied 55 assists, 11 digs and four kills for the Huskies. Gabrielle Eyl had 26 digs, while Jamie Bredahl added 15 kills and seven digs. 

Hofstra is back in action on Friday when it hosts UNCW at 7 p.m. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 39-12 all-time against Northeastern. The Huskies swept the Pride in Boston back on October 15. 
- The match was the Pride's fifth five-set contest this season and Hofstra is now 4-1 in those matches. 
- Figueroa's previous high of seven kills came at James Madison on October 23. 
- Masciullo previously had reached 20 kills on three separate occasions, most recently at James Madison.