Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra Volleyball team concluded a stellar week with another strong showing at home as the Pride defeated Charleston in four sets on Sunday afternoon at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center. 

Sophomore Nanishka Perez had a match-high 13 kills for Hofstra, which also got 11 kills and 11 blocks from sophomore Michela Rucli. It was Rucli's first career double-double and the block total marked a new career-high. 

The win concluded a very strong week for Hofstra as the Pride went 3-0 with wins over Northeastern, UNCW and the Cougars. Those three squads included a pair of teams that began the week tied for first in the Colonial Athletic Association (Northeastern and Charleston) and the defending conference champions (UNCW). Hofstra also avenged losses to all three of those teams from earlier this season. 

Hofstra finished the home portion of their schedule with a perfect 12-0 record. It marked the first unblemished home slate since the 2004 squad also went 12-0. The Pride went 6-0 at the David S. Mack Fitness Center and 6-0 at the Mack Physical Education Center. 

The win was Hofstra's third straight and improved the Pride's record to 19-7 overall and 9-4 in league play. Charleston falls to 15-9 and 8-4 in the CAA. 

Set scores were 24-26, 25-19, 25-18 and 25-20 in favor of Hofstra. 

After dropping the first set despite holding a 20-13 lead at one point, Hofstra responded and took control in the final three sets of the match to capture the win. 

Hofstra finished the match hitting nearly .300 as they hit over that threshold in the second and fourth sets. 

With the match tied at one set each, Hofstra held Charleston to a .188 attack percentage in the third set and got even better in the fourth set as the Cougars mustered just a .122 hitting percentage as they would go on to earn the win. 

Freshman Laura Masciullo tallied 11 kills and eight digs for the Pride, while graduate Semen Sen posted seven kills and four blocks. Senior Sophia Black tallied a match-high 22 digs for Hofstra. Senior Hannah Klemm led the Pride with 30 assists. 

Riana Brennan had 10 kills and 12 digs for Charleston, while McKala Rhodes posted 21 digs for the Cougars. 

The match was the final home contest for the Pride's four seniors as Black, Klemm, Veronika Kostova and Sen were honored in a prematch ceremony. 

Hofstra heads on the road for its next match as the Pride will face Towson on November 4 at 7 p.m. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 5-6 all-time against Charleston. The Cougars defeated the Pride in four sets back on September 23 down in South Carolina. 
- Rucli's previous career-high of nine blocks came against William & Mary on October 2, 2016. 
- With her 30 assists in the match, Klemm moved into seventh all-time in CAA history. She now has 4,259 career assists to pass Megan Welch, who had 4,253 assists for Delaware from 2004-07.