Hempstead, NY - Hofstra freshman
Aisha Skinner had the best match of her young career with a season-high 23 kills, along with nine digs and four blocks to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to a come-from-behind five-set win over Charleston on Thursday evening at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.
Hofstra, which was down two sets to one in the match, improved to 20-7 overall and 10-3 in Colonial Athletic Association play. It was Hofstra's fourth straight victory. Charleston fell to 17-10 and 8-5 in the league with the defeat. Set scores were 25-18, 24-26, 15-25, 25-22 and 15-5 for the Pride.
Hofstra got off to a great start in the match, hitting at a .393 clip in the first set as they would easily pick up the seven-point victory. Charleston roared back, though, and the Cougars took the next two sets in dominating fashion to lead two sets to one. The Pride responded when they needed it the most and took a three-point win in the fourth set to knot the match at two. Hofstra left no doubt in the final set, as junior
Luisa Sydlik's strong serving allowed the Pride to score the first five points of the stanza. The lead would grow from there, including at 12-2, before Hofstra settled for a convincing 15-5 win and their 20th victory of the season.
Sydlik was tremendous in the match for Hofstra with a match-high 54 assists and a team-high 16 digs, while junior
Laura Masciullo added 18 kills for the Pride. Freshman
Maddie Appleton added 14 digs, sophomore
Ana Martinovic chipped in with 10 kills and seniors
Michela Rucli and
Doris Bogoje each notched six blocks. Devon Rachel had 20 kills and 18 digs for Charleston, while Kennedy Madison posted 21 kills and Allison Beckman had 48 assists and seven digs.
Hofstra returns to action on Saturday when it hosts UNCW at 1 p.m.
NOTES
- Hofstra is now 7-9 all-time against Charleston after sweeping the season series from the Cougars. It is the Pride's first regular season sweep of Charleston since 2015.
- The 20-win season is the Pride's fourth in the last five seasons and the 27th time in program history (since 1976) that Hofstra has reached the 20-win plateau.
- Skinner's previous career-high of 19 kills occurred twice, most recently versus Towson on October 19, 2018.
- The 10 kills by Martinovic tied her career-high, which most recently occured at Charleston on October 5, 2018.
