College Park, MD - The Hofstra volleyball team packed a season's worth of excitement into today's 2021 lid-lifter as the Pride overcame five match points by Central Connecticut State and set a rally-scoring era scoring record in the third set en route to a five-set win over the Blue Devils on Friday evening at the Maryland Invite on the campus of the University of Maryland. 

Set scores were 21-25, 20-25, 35-33, 25-22, and 15-10. 

It was Hofstra's first comeback from an 0-2 deficit since September 7, 2019 against Stetson. The 35 points scored in the third set marked a rally-scoring era record for points scored in a set (since 2008). 

A trio of players posted double figures in kills for Hofstra as sophomore Yagmur Cinel tallied 16 kills and 10 digs, junior Zyare Abdul-Rahim totaled 16 kills and eight blocks, and graduate student Ana Martinovic added 14 kills and 10 digs. The kills totals for Cinel and Abdul-Rahim marked new career-highs for both

Freshman Beatriz Alves had 55 assists and 12 digs in her collegiate debut, while freshman Chiara Cucco posted 23 digs in her first college match. 

The third set saw Hofstra fight off match points at 23-24, 25-26, 27-28, 28-29, and 29-30. The Pride put the set away with a block from Martinovic and a kill from Cinel. 

In the final set, Hofstra scored four straight points early on to take a 5-2 lead and never looked back in posting the five-set win. 

Nyjha Marcelin led CCSU with 12 kills, while Ashlyn Eisenga had 23 digs and Natalie Novak added 17 assists and six digs. 

Hofstra has a pair of matches on the docket on Saturday as the Pride will face Virginia at 10:30 a.m. and Maryland at 7 p.m. Both matches will air on BTN+. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is 7-1 all-time against Central Connecticut State. This marked the first meeting since the 1997 season. 
- The 35 points scored by Hofstra in the third set marked the first time the Pride has crossed the 30-point plateau since a 30-28 set win over Northeastern on November 8, 2017. It is the most points Hofstra has scored in a set in the current structure (sets to 25 - since 2008). 
- In the Pride's last rally from an 0-2 deficit, Hofstra defeated Stetson in five sets (22-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-18, and 15-10) on September 7, 2019.