Towson, MD -  A 2-0 lead for sixth-seeded Hofstra evaporated against third-seeded Charleston, but the Pride put in a gutsy performance to win 3-2 over the Cougars in the quarterfinal of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship from Towson's SECU Center. The Pride's record improves to 15-13 as their season continues, and Charleston sees its season come to a close with a 16-12 record.

The set scores were 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 24-26, and 15-13 in favor of the Pride.

Ana Martinovic, Florencia Wolkowyski and Athina Dimitriadis all finished with 13 kills against the Cougars, while Zyare Abdul-Rahim pitched in with 12 kills. Chiara Cucco led all players with 27 digs in tonight's match.

The action was even at the beginning of the opening set before rattled off five straight points for an 11-6 lead before the Cougars burned a timeout. Hofstra's lead was as large as four following the timeout, but Charleston went on an 8-1 run to take a late two-point lead, foreshadowing Charleston's late-set resiliency. A Charleston service error and a Dimitriadis ace started a set-ending 7-0 run for Hofstra to give the Pride the 25-20 win in set one.

Hofstra opened the set with a 5-0 run and never looked back, cruising to a second set win with lights-out attacking and excellent defending. Hofstra finished the second set with an attacking percentage of .458 while limiting Charleston to a .061 clip and forced nine attacking errors. The Cougars came to within six down the stretch, but the gap was too large and a Bianca Bucciarelli kill gave Hofstra a 2-0 lead.

Charleston took the early lead in the third set and held a three-point advantage midway through the set before Hofstra took the lead with five unanswered points. The Pride led by four late, but Charleston came out of a timeout and scored five of the next six points to tie the score at 20. The Cougars scored five out of the final six points, including three straight, to take set three.

The teams traded points early in the fourth set before Hofstra jumped ahead with six straight points. Hofstra held a 22-17 advantage following a Wolkowyski kill, but Charleston refused to go away as they scored four straight points to make it a one-point set. Hofstra was on match point following kills by Wolkowyski and Martinovic, but the match would extend to a fifth set as Charleston scored the final four points.

In the fifth and final set of the second quarterfinal match, the teams traded points until Charleston pulled ahead with three unanswered points to put the score at 12-9. An Abdul-Rahim kill was the first of three straight Hofstra kills, tying the score at 12-12. Charleston briefly pulled ahead by one, but a pair of Dimitriadis kills and a combination block from Dimitriadis and Beatriz Alves gave Hofstra the 15-14 win in the set, and Hofstra came away with an upset win over the Cougars.

Hofstra will move on to the CAA Championship Semifinals against second-seeded Elon at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, November 19. Elon (16-10, 11-5 CAA) swept the series against Hofstra in the last meeting.

NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 10-11 all-time against Charleston.
-This was the sixth five-set match of the season for Hofstra. The Pride improves to 5-1 in five-set matches.
-Beatriz Alves dished out 48 assists for her 10th match with 40+ assists.
-With 12 blocks, Sarah Pierre finished with double-digit blocks for the fourth time this season.