Hempstead, NY - With the race for the top seed in the CAA Tournament down to the final two weekends, the Hofstra University volleyball team faces one of its toughest tests of the season when it travels to Towson for its final regular-season road series of 2026.

Hofstra (16-4, 11-1 CAA) and College of Charleston (20-3, 11-1 CAA) are tied atop the conference standings with four league matches left after the Cougars fell 3-1 to William & Mary last weekend. 

The Pride, who have already clinched a spot in the CAA Championship for the third straight year, can lock up a first-round bye for the second year in a row with one win in their final four matches. They are also chasing a second consecutive CAA regular-season title.

The teams meet Friday, Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. at SECU Arena in Towson, Md. on FloCollege. Hofstra then closes the regular season at home against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 13-14.

Hofstra leads the all-time series 48-26, but Towson has won nine of the last 12 meetings. The rivalry has been especially close lately. The teams have split each of the last two season series, and five of the last seven matches have gone the full five sets. Each of the Pride's last four wins over the Tigers came in five sets, including a 3-2 win on Nov. 15, 2024 that gave Head Coach Emily Mansur her 200th career victory.

If this weekend goes the distance, Hofstra has been at its best late in matches. After dropping their first two five-setters of the season, at Yale and against Liberty, the Pride have won four straight, most recently in a 3-2 win at William & Mary on Oct. 23 that completed a road sweep of the Tribe.

Beatriz Braga has thrived against Towson. The senior recorded 21 and 22 kills in last season's two five-set matches against the Tigers at the PEC, and she enters the weekend 16 kills away from becoming the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000. Braga ranks fourth in the CAA in kills with 287 (3.73 per set) and set a career high with 26 kills against Northeastern on Oct. 17.

This weekend matches strength against strength. Towson, picked third in the CAA Preseason Poll, comes in as one of the league's most potent offenses. The Tigers average 13.7 kills per set and hit .245, and they have outpaced the Pride in total kills (1,065 to 992) and service aces (134 to 97). Hofstra counters with the CAA's best defense at the net. The Pride lead the league in blocks and opponent hitting percentage, rank ninth nationally with 2.88 blocks per set and hold opponents to a .160 hitting percentage.

Julia Amorim anchors the front row, ranking second in the CAA and 14th nationally with 1.42 blocks per set. Geovanna Gonçalves Rocha is fifth in the league in blocks.

Links to the broadcasts, as well as live stats, can be found on this page and on the volleyball schedule page on GoHofstra.com.