Hempstead, NY – Sophomore Michela Rucli posted a career-best 19 kills along with a .692 attack percentage, while fellow sophomore Nanishka Perez fell one shy of her career-high with 19 kills to help lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a thrilling five-set win over Seton Hall on Tuesday evening at the David S. Mack Fitness Center. 

Set scores were 25-22, 29-31, 17-25, 25-22 and 15-10 for Hofstra. 

The win was Hofstra's fourth in its last five matches and improves the team's record to 8-3 this season. Seton Hall saw its five-match win streak come to an end as they fell to 5-5. 

It was an extremely competitive match that would see the two squads play for well over two hours in a match that featured a total of 38 tie scores and 18 lead changes. 

The first two sets saw a total of 28 tie scores and 14 lead changes and two evenly-matched squads battled back and forth. Hofstra used a strong offense in the opening stanza, hitting at a .429 clip, to earn the narrow three-point win. Both teams would have multiple chances in the second set with the Pirates finally able to take advantage of their opportunities and winning in "extra time" – 31-29. 

Seton Hall would take a commanding eight-point lead, 18-10, in the third stanza and that would prove too much for Hofstra to overcome as they would go on to take their first lead of the match in terms of the set score. 

Hofstra was forced to come from behind as they headed into the fourth set looking to even the match at two sets each. Similar to the opening stanza, Hofstra used its offense to gain control and hit .429 once again to send the match to the decisive fifth set. 

In the final set, the Pride faced an early 5-3 deficit and would also trail 8-6 before mounting its comeback. Kills from junior Leticia Valente and Perez would tie the score at eight and the match would once again be knotted at 10 before a bad set by the Pirates put the Pride ahead for good. Leading 12-10, freshman Laura Masciullo came up huge with consecutive kills and Valente would end the contest with her 13th kill of the match. 

Valente finished with a team-best seven blocks, while freshman Luisa Sydlik posted a season-high 40 assists for the Pride. Masciullo added 15 digs for Hofstra and sophomore Luisa Domingues notched 20 digs in the match. 

Seton Hall got 13 kills from Danielle Schroeder and 24 assists and six digs from Sophia Coffey.  

Hofstra is back on the court on Friday when it hosts Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. That will be the second match of the day at the Hofstra/Stony Brook Invitational as Fort Wayne battles American at 12 p.m. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is 8-6 all-time against Seton Hall. The teams went the distance last season as well, with the Pirates winning in five sets. 
- Hofstra is now 2-1 in five-set matches in 2016. 
- Rucli's previous career-high of 13 kills came earlier this season against Stony Brook.