Hempstead, NY – Sophomore Laura Masciullo established a new season-high with 20 kills and added 10 digs for her second double-double of the season to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a five-set victory over Fort Wayne on Friday evening at the David S. Mack Fitness Center. 

Hofstra won by set scores of 25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 26-24 and 15-9. The win improved the Pride's record to 9-3 this season. Fort Wayne slipped to 4-8 with the loss. Hofstra has won three straight matches. 

Senior Veronika Kostova also had a solid match for Hofstra as she contributed 14 kills and a team-best five blocks. 

The two teams would split the first two sets with the Pride getting on the scoreboard first with a relatively easy first set victory. Hofstra hit at a .325 clip in the opening stanza as Masciullo and sophomore Michela Rucli each had five kills. 

The Mastodons fought back and would knot the match at one with a close win in the second set. The match headed into the break tied at one as Fort Wayne held the Pride to a .167 attack percentage in tying the match. 

Fort Wayne would match their winning score from the second set in the next set to take a lead in the contest. Both teams were incredible offensively in the third set with Fort Wayne hitting at a .559 clip and Hofstra notching a .414 attack percentage. The two squads combined for only three attack errors in the third set. 

Another exciting set was in store for the fourth stanza with Hofstra rallying late for a narrow two-point win as they held Fort Wayne to less than a .200 attack percentage in sending the match to a fifth set. It marked the Pride's second straight match that has gone the distance and fourth this season. 

Hofstra took immediate control in the fifth set as they scored the first three points of the stanza, forcing a Fort Wayne timeout. The Pride would continue to hold at least a two-point advantage most of the set until pushing it to four at 9-5 following a kill from Masciullo. Leading 12-8, Hofstra would close the set on a 3-1 scoring run to win the match as a kill from sophomore Nanishka Perez ended the contest. 

Rucli finished with 11 kills and four blocks for the Pride, while senior Hannah Klemm tallied 37 assists and five digs. Perez led Hofstra with 13 digs. 

Fort Wayne got 14 kills and 12 digs from Nicole Rightnowar and 17 kills from Lauren Hoffman. Victoria Mills posted 23 assists and 11 digs. 

Hofstra returns to action on Saturday when it hosts American at 3 p.m. in the David S. Mack Fitness Center. 

Notes
- Hofstra and Fort Wayne had met once before in the sport of volleyball as the Mastodons won a three-set match in 2005. 
- Fort Wayne Head Coach Steve Florio served as an assistant coach at Hofstra from 1999-2003. 
- Klemm moved into ninth all-time in the Colonial Athletic Association in assists as she now has 3,861 to pass Daniella Pastore of George Mason. Pastore had 3,831 from 1997-2000. Klemm is also just two assists shy of third on the Pride's all-time list as Lindsey Birkel had 3,863 from 1996-99.