Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Volleyball team will begin defense of its Colonial Athletic Association title this week as the Pride travels Elon and William & Mary this weekend. 

The Pride's CAA lid-lifter will be an 8 p.m. contest at Elon on Friday before closing the week with a 1 p.m. match at William & Mary on Sunday. 

There will be live video and live statistics of both matches. Links to both can be found on this page and on the volleyball schedule page at GoHofstra.com. 

Hofstra brings a 7-5 overall record into CAA play after facing a formidable non-conference schedule that saw the Pride face a slew of tough opponents including a pair of ranked teams for the first time since 2008. 

Senior Laura Masciullo leads Hofstra with 167 kills, while junior Ana Martinovic is second with 118. On the defensive end, junior Juliana Vaz is tops on the team with 190 digs and senior Luisa Sydlik ranks second with 124 and is first on the team with 499 assists. Junior Dubravka Krakovic has a team-high 40 blocks, while Sydlik has a team-best 13 service aces. 

Elon is 5-8 this season and coming off a narrow five-set loss to Virginia this past Saturday. William & Mary is 4-7 in 2019 and most recently fell in three sets to George Mason on Saturday. They will host Northeastern on Friday. 

Hofstra is 9-1 all-time against Elon and 27-18 all-time against William & Mary. The Pride swept both the Phoenix and Tribe last season and has won 11 straight matches versus William & Mary. 

The Pride is coming off a stellar 2018 CAA schedule that saw Hofstra capture the regular season conference crown with a 13-3 mark and then win the postseason title as well and earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. It marked Hofstra's fourth CAA title and ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.