Hempstead, NY - In the final match of the 2021 regular season, the Hofstra volleyball team earned a 3-0 win over James Madison Sunday afternoon from inside the David S. Mack Sports Physical Education Center.
Four members of the Hofstra squad finished in double-figures for kills, with freshman
Florencia Wolkowyski leading the pack with 13. Junior
Athina Dimitriadis posted 11 kills against the Dukes, while junior
Zyare Abdul-Rahim and graduate student
Ana Martinovic tallied 10 kills each.
The set scores were 25-23, 25-20, and 27-25 for the Pride. Hofstra ends the regular season with a 14-13 overall record and an 8-8 mark against Colonial Athletic Association opposition, while James Madison ends its season at 17-7 overall and 11-5 in the conference.
James Madison jumped out to a four-point advantage to begin the first set, but Hofstra rebounded and rattled off seven of the next nine points to lead. The Dukes would re-take the lead and grew their advantage to as many as five points before a
Bianca Bucciarelli kill sparked a 6-1 Hofstra run to even the set at 19-19. The lead changed twice down the stretch before Wolkowyski scored the next three Hofstra points to take the set for the home side.
The Pride came entered the second set and hit at a .361 attacking percentage to James Madison's .250 clip. Five straight points put Hofstra ahead, 10-6, forcing JMU into burning a timeout midway through the frame. Hofstra continued to control the action out of the break, never allowing James Madison to come within two points, before scoring three of the final four points to earn a win in set two.
On the other end of a 7-1 run, Hofstra trailed James Madison 22-20 late in the third set. Kills by Martinovic and Abdul-Rahim and a block by Dimitriadis and freshman
Beatriz Alves gave Hofstra a one-point advantage down the stretch. James Madison staved off defeat twice in the final moments of the set, including a block on a Bucciarelli attack to make it 25-25, but Dimitriadis scored the final two points off a kill and service ace to close out the regular season with a win for Hofstra.
Alves had 42 assists and 10 digs for the Pride, the seventh time this season she finished with a double-double, and Dimitriadis had a hand in four of Hofstra's 13 total blocks.
Miëtte Veldman led James Madison with 13 kills, and Sophia Davis posted 10 kills for the visitors. Caroline Dozier and Savannah Marshall recorded 10 digs each in the loss.
With the regular season now concluded, the Pride will head down to Maryland for the 2021 CAA Championship, hosted by Towson University. As the No. 6 seed, Hofstra will face No. 3 Charleston in the quarterfinals on Thursday, November 18, at 6:30 p.m. All three rounds of the CAA Championship can be viewed live on FloVolleyball.
NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 27-19 against James Madison in the all-time series.
-Immediately following the conclusion of today's match, Head Coach
Emily Mansur and the Hofstra volleyball team honored graduating seniors
Maddie Appleton,
Sheryl Mathew and
Ana Martinovic.
-With 11 kills today and 13 on Saturday, this marks the first time in
Athina Dimitriadis' Hofstra career that she has recorded double-digit kills in consecutive matches.
-With 22 digs against the Dukes,
Chiara Cucco has recorded 20+ digs in a match nine times this season.
-Hofstra ends the season with a 6-2 home record.
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Zyare Abdul-Rahim scored Hofstra's opening point in all three sets.