Newark, DE - Yagmur Cinel tied for match-high honors with 17 kills but Delaware rallied from an 0-2 deficit in the match to defeat the Hofstra volleyball team in five sets on Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center. 

Clara Bal added 13 kills for the Pride, which also got 11 kills and 14 digs from Izadora Stedile. 

The Pride slips to 16-6 overall and 6-5 in CAA play. The Blue Hens improved to 15-4 and 8-3 in league action. Set scores were 28-26, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, and 15-17. 

Hofstra won the first two sets with the opening stanza going "extra" and the Pride prevailing. Delaware rallied to even the match at two and set up the contest for an exciting finish. The Blue Hens jumped out to an early 3-1 advantage before Hofstra quickly tied the score at three. Delaware would open up a three-point lead, 8-5, later in the set before Hofstra scored five straight points to take a 10-8 advantage following a service ace from Chiara Cucco. A 5-1 Blue Hen run made it 13-11 in favor of the home team and the teams would battle back and forth down the stretch. With the score knotted at 15 after a kill from Stedile, Delaware got two straight kills to take the match. 

Beatriz Alves tallied 45 assists, 14 digs, and four kills in the match, while Cucco had a match-high 20 digs for the Pride. 

Lani Mason posted 17 kills and 15 digs for Delaware and Savannah Seemans added 11 kills and 17 digs. 

The Pride and the Blue Hens will meet up at 1 p.m. on Sunday to conclude the weekend series. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 56-24 all-time against Delaware. 
- The double-double by Stedile was her team-leading 10th of the season. 
- The double-double by Alves was her fifth of the season.