Hempstead, NY – Senior Veronika Kostova had 15 kills, including the 1,000th of her career, to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a four-set win over Towson on Thursday evening at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center. 

Freshman Laura Masciullo posted a match-high 18 kills to lead Hofstra. Kostova now has 1,009 career kills in her three-plus seasons in a Pride uniform. She is the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 kills. 

Set scores were 23-25, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-19 in favor of Hofstra. 

The win was Hofstra's third straight and improves the Pride's record to 13-5 and 3-2 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Towson falls to 15-4 and 3-2 in league action. 

Despite seven first set kills from Masciullo, Hofstra was unable to complete its rally as it fell, 25-23, after nearly overcoming a late 24-20 deficit. 

Another tight set ensued in the second stanza with the two teams tied at 20 before Kostova gave Hofstra a 21-20 lead with her sixth kill of the match. That kill was also a milestone as it marked career kill number 1,000 for Kostova. The Pride would eventually earn the win in the second set as a kill from sophomore Michela Rucli sent the match to a third set tied at one. 

The third set featured a long delay as the Towson bench contested a call at 11-7. After the delay, Hofstra came out on fire and scored five straight points to take a commanding 16-7 lead following a kill from Kostova. The Pride would never look back in taking the lead in the match. Masciullo posted six kills in the set, while sophomore Nanishka Perez and Kostova each added four. 

In the fourth set, Towson got on the board first but Hofstra immediately answered with four straight points to take a 4-1 lead. Towson would close the gap to one on several occasions but Hofstra kept the pressure on and eventually closed the match via a service ace from Perez. 

Sophomore Luisa Domingues had a match-high 18 digs for the Pride, while senior Hannah Klemm tallied her team-leading fourth double-double with 33 assists and 13 digs. Perez finished with 12 kills and 14 digs. It was her third double-double of the season. 

Hofstra will play a pair of matches this weekend at home as they will host Delaware on Saturday at 1 p.m. before taking on Elon on Sunday at 1 p.m. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 42-13 all-time against Towson. The teams split the meetings in 2015. 
- The last player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills prior to Kostova was Kelsie Wills. She totaled a program-record 1,942 career kills from 2011-14. 
- Hofstra is now 7-0 at home this season with the first six home matches occurring at the Mack Fitness Center.