Charleston, SC - Sarah Pierre tallied a career-high 16 kills but Charleston rallied from a two sets to one deficit to defeat the Hofstra volleyball team in five sets on Sunday afternoon at TD Arena. 

The loss overshadowed a tremendous match from Chiara Cucco, who had 34 digs and eight assists, and Beatriz Alves, who notched 49 assists and a career-high 19 digs. 

Hofstra slipped to 18-9 and 8-8 in CAA play with the loss. Charleston improved to 12-15 and 9-7 in the league. Set scores were 21-25, 28-26, 27-25, 21-25, and 11-15. 

A strong rally in the second set allowed Hofstra to get on the board as the Pride trailed 20-13 late in the stanza before notching the close set win. The momentum would take the Pride to another set victory as they needed extra time once again in the third set to earn another narrow win. The Cougars were able to even the score in the fourth set before a back and fourth fifth set went the way of the home team. 

Yagmur Cinel and Izadora Stedile each tied Pierre for team-high honors with 16 kills, while Beatriz Braga added 10. Stedile also picked up 13 digs in the match. 

Sopheea Mink had 17 kills for Charleston, which also got 12 kills, nine digs, and six blocks from Lexi Wierzbicki. 

Hofstra returns to action next weekend when it hosts Stony Brook for a pair of matches. Both Saturday and Sunday will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday's match will air on MSG Network and Sunday marks the conclusion of the regular season. Both contests will also air on FloVolleyball.

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 12-13 all-time against Charleston.
- Pierre previously tallied nine kills on a trio of occasions, most recently against Seton Hall on September 9, 2023. 
- Alves previously had 15 digs on a pair of occasions, most recently against Northeastern on November 6, 2022. 
- Cucco's dig total was her most since tallying a career-best 35 against Elon on November 19, 2021. 
- Stedile had her team-leading 11th double-double of the season, while Alves her eighth of the season.