Fairfield, CT - Sophomore Bianca Bucciarelli tallied a career-high 15 kills, freshman Chiara Cucco picked up a season-best 32 digs, and freshman Beatriz Alves was solid all-around with 41 assists, six digs, four kills, and four blocks to lead the Hofstra volleyball team to a four-set win over Kent State at the Fairfield Invitational on Friday morning. 

Hofstra won by set scores of 25-23, 17-25, 25-19, and 25-22, as they improved to 3-2 this season. Kent State fell to 3-2 with the loss. 

The Pride won the first two sets, including a strong showing in the second set to take a 2-0 lead in the contest. Kent State fought back, though, and won the third set to close the gap and looked to be in control in the fourth set.

In the fourth set, the Golden Flashes held a commanding 17-10 lead and were primed to send the match to a decisive fifth set. But Hofstra had other ideas and quickly erased the deficit with an 8-1 run that knotted the score at 18. A kill from Bucciarelli gave Hofstra the lead and the Pride would take the lead for good at 21-20 and junior Zyare Abdul-Rahim slammed down match point and gave Hofstra its second win of the week in two outings. 

Abdul-Rahim finished with 10 kills for the Pride, while graduate student Ana Martinovic tallied 15 digs and nine kills. 

Melissa Kolurbasi had 12 kills and seven digs for Kent State, which also got 37 assists and 11 digs from Alex Haffner. 

Hofstra is back in action this afternoon when it faces Seton Hall at 4:30 p.m. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 2-0 all-time against Kent State. Today marked the first meeting since 2015. 
- Bucciarelli's previous career-best of 14 digs came at Northeastern on March 7, 2021. 
- The 32 digs by Cucco were the most for a Hofstra player since Maddie Appleton had 32 against Delaware on November 4, 2018. 
- Cucco's 32 digs are the most by a Hofstra player in a four-set match since Shellane Ogoshi had 32 in a four-set match at Northeastern on November 12, 2005. Catherine Durakis posted a school-record tying 41 digs in a four-set match against Delaware that season as well on November 5, 2005.