Philadelphia, PA - Freshman
Aisha Skinner led Hofstra with 13 kills, while junior
Laura Masciullo posted 11 kills and a career-best .588 attack percentage to lead the Hofstra Volleyball team to its first win of the season, a sweep over Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon at the Hilton Penn's Landing Temple Invitational.
Set scores were 25-14, 25-15 and 25-20 in favor of Hofstra, which got another great outing from junior
Luisa Sydlik with 43 assists and 17 digs. The win evens the Pride's record at 1-1, while the Rams fall to 0-3 on the season.
Hofstra hit .321 in the match, buoyed by stellar attacking in the first two sets with a .333 attack percentage in the first set and then followed that up with a .385 hitting percentage in the second stanza. In addition to Masciullo's strong offense, several other Pride players saw high attack percentages. Senior
Michela Rucli hit .556 (five kills), sophomore
Ana Martinovic hit .500 (seven kills) and Skinner hit .310. Hofstra's defense was also stout in the contest as URI managed just a .065 attack percentage with freshman
Maddie Appleton tallying 13 digs and sophomore
Ivania Ortiz chipping in with 10 for the Pride. Senior
Doris Bogoje led all players with seven blocks.
Lauren Pick led URI with 20 assists and added eight digs. Olivia Budinich tallied 16 digs, while Natale Zanellato posted seven kills for the Rams.
Hofstra will close play at the tournament this evening when it faces Temple at 7 p.m.
NOTES
- Hofstra is now 6-6 all-time against Rhode Island. It was the first meeting between the schools since 2012.
- Sydlik now has double-doubles in each of the Pride's first two matches this season.
- The .588 attack percentage by Masciullo was the highest of her career. Her previous high of .524 with 12 kills on 21 attempts with only one error came against Bakersfield on August 27, 2016 in her second career match.