HEMPSTEAD, NY - One night after a swift sweep, the Hofstra University volleyball team needed all five sets to get past Northeastern University, 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-18, 15-13), in CAA action Saturday at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.
In front of a crowd filled with former Pride student-athletes and their families for Alumni Day, Hofstra (14-4, 9-1 CAA) completed a season sweep of Northeastern (4-14, 2-8 CAA) in the teams' first five-setter since Sept. 26, 2021 (W, 3-2).
The win keeps the Pride on pace with Charleston (19-2, 10-0 CAA), which won both of its matches this weekend at Stony Brook.
After just two ties and two lead changes the night before, Saturday's contest featured 23 ties and 13 lead changes across five sets.
Facing its first CAA home loss of 2026, the Pride leaned on
Beatriz Braga, who committed only five attack errors on her way to a career-high 26 kills, topping her previous best of 25 against Campbell last November.
Braga led Hofstra with four kills in the fifth set, when the Pride hit .333, their second-best mark of the match behind a .353 clip in Set 1. With Hofstra up 12-11, a successful Pride challenge revealed a Northeastern net violation, stretching the lead to 13-11 and providing just enough cushion to close out a 15-13 win.
Melis Basaran set a new career-high with 14 kills on .278 hitting, while
Valentina Lopez Moya added five kills on seven attempts (.714) in limited but impactful action.
Braga (26 kills, 17 digs) and
Ellie Pamatat (22 assists, 15 digs) each added another double-double to their season totals, while
Lauren Konzen (10 assists, 12 digs) recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career.
Sonja Rundcrantz led the team with 25 assists.
The Pride now head out on the road, beginning with a trip to Williamsburg, Va., for a pair of matches at William & Mary on Thursday (Oct. 22) and Friday (Oct. 23), streaming on FloCollege.
NOTES
- It is the Pride's third consecutive season sweep of Northeastern, and Hofstra has won 10 of its last 11 meetings with the Huskies.
- Hofstra remains unbeaten in its last six matches against Northeastern at the PEC (last loss: Mar. 5, 2021).
- The Pride have won their last three five-setters this season after dropping their first two.
- Hofstra has won its previous 18 regular-season meetings with William & Mary and 18 of the last 19 overall (only loss: Nov. 17, 2022, L, 2-3, CAA Quarterfinals).
- The Pride have won their last eight matches at William & Mary, with their last loss in Williamsburg coming in October 2008.
