Storrs, CT - Beatriz Braga posted 14 kills and six digs, Clara Bal tallied 12 kills, and Izadora Stedile chipped in with 10 kills and 13 digs to lead the Hofstra volleyball team to its fifth consecutive win to open the 2023 campaign with a four-set victory over UConn on Friday evening at the UConn Volleyball Center. 

The 5-0 start to the season is the program's best since opening the 2012 campaign with eight consecutive victories. 

Beatriz Alves had a strong match as well with 42 assists and nine digs. 

Hofstra won by set scores of 16-25, 25-19, 25-14, and 25-13 in upping its record to 5-0. UConn saw its record fall to 1-3. 

After a slow start to the match, Hofstra was nearly unstoppable offensively the rest of the match as they hit .297 in the second set before tallying a .367 attack percentage in the third stanza. The defense was also stout, limiting the Huskies to a negative hitting percentage in the fourth set. 

Chiara Cucco had a match-high 18 digs for the Pride, which also got seven kills and three blocks from Sarah Pierre and six kills and three blocks from Emilly Nunes. 

Taylor Pannell and Emma Werkmeister each had seven kills for UConn. Doga Kutlu had 18 assists and 10 digs for the Huskies. 

Hofstra has a pair of matches on Saturday's slate as the Pride will face Merrimack at 11 a.m. before taking on Lehigh at 4:30 p.m. Both matches are at the UConn Tournament. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 8-1 all-time against Connecticut. It was the first match between the schools since a 3-1 Pride win in 2014. 
- Tonight marked the first time all season that Hofstra has dropped the first set of a match. 
- The 18 digs by Cucco were a Hofstra individual high this season. 
- Stedile's double-double was her first of the season.