Hamilton, NY - The Hofstra volleyball team got strong performances from a trio of freshmen as Florencia Wolkowyski had a match-high 11 kills, Beatriz Alves tallied a match-high 27 assists, and Chiara Cucco picked up a match-high 17 digs to lead the Pride to a three-set sweep of Cleveland State on Friday afternoon at the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament at Colgate University. 

It marked Hofstra's third consecutive win and fifth victory in the Pride's last six matches. Hofstra improved to 6-3 overall with the win. The Vikings fell to 2-6 with the loss. 

The Pride was in complete control in the first set, leading 21-14, before Cleveland State rallied with six straight points to close to within one. Hofstra was able to hold off any further Cleveland State rally as they scored the next three points of the set, including a block from sophomore Damla Tokman, and eventually captured a 25-23 win. 

That would be the closest set of the match as Hofstra cruised in the second and third stanza to earn their second consecutive win in a sweep. 

Junior Athina Dimitriadis and sophomore Bianca Bucciarelli each posted seven kills in the contest, with Dimitriadis adding four blocks for the Pride. Senior Maddie Appleton had a career-best five service aces for the Pride. 

Chelsea Penfield had nine kills and four service aces for Cleveland State. 

Hofstra is back on the court on Saturday for a pair of matches. The Pride will face Princeton at 1:30 p.m. before facing Colgate at 5:30 p.m.

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 1-1 all-time against Cleveland State. Today's match was the first between the teams since 2010. 
- Appleton's previous career-high in service aces was four against William & Mary on September 30, 2018. 
- Wolkowyski reached double figures in kills for the second time this season. She has 33 kills over her last three matches. 
- Cucco has now reached double figures in digs in all nine matches this season, while Alves has done the same in assists.