Towson, MD – Led by 20 kills from sophomore outside hitter Kelsie Wills and 18 digs from senior libero Kylee Maneja, the Hofstra Volleyball team stunned regular season champion and top-seeded Towson in the semifinals on Saturday evening at the Towson Center Arena to advance to Sunday's Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Match.
The title tilt will start at 5 p.m. and the Pride will take on Delaware, which defeated James Madison in the other semifinal today.
Hofstra won by set scores of 14-25, 25-7, 6-25, 25-20 and 15-10. The Pride is now 5-3 in five-set matches this season.
The win was Hofstra's sixth straight and marks the Pride's second win streak of at least six matches this season after starting the season with eight straight victories.
Hofstra stunned a Tiger squad that went 12-0 in regular season CAA play and had only lost a total of six sets all season in conference action. In addition, Towson swept the Pride, 3-0, back on October 19.
The win by the Hofstra Volleyball team continues a remarkable postseason for the Hofstra Athletics teams as the volleyball program is the third fall sport to advance to the championship match/game of their respective sport. The women's soccer team won the CAA title (advancing to the NCAA Tournament), while the men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking double overtime decision in their title appearance. In fact, all three programs defeated the host number one seed and regular season champion to advance to the title contest.
The victory improves Hofstra's record to 20-13 this season, while Towson falls to 25-4.
It is the Pride's first 20-win campaign since the 2006 squad went 24-7 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Hofstra will be making its first CAA Title Match appearance since the 2007 season and will be looking for its first CAA title since 2006. The 2006 title is Hofstra's only one since joining the conference.
Hofstra will be facing a Delaware squad which has now made the CAA title match in five of the last six years. In this season's only meeting Delaware earned a narrow five-set victory over the Pride on October 20 down in Newark.
After Towson won the first set by the score of 25-14, the two squads exchanged dominating victories as Hofstra won 25-7 in the second set before Towson returned the favor with a 25-6 win in set three. The seven points allowed in the second set were the fewest Hofstra has allowed in a set this season (124 total sets).
Needing a win in the fourth set to send the match to a decisive fifth and final set, Hofstra hit at a .343 clip, its highest of the contest, to earn a five-point win (25-20) and set up the exciting finish.
The Pride stayed out in front through most of the fifth set, never letting the Tigers to take a lead late, before sophomore outside hitter Emily Burke ended the match with her 11th kill to send Hofstra to the championship match.
Senior setter Catalina Charry had a strong match for the Pride as she had 25 assists, seven digs and tied for match-high honors with four blocks. Wills added six digs, three service aces and two blocks, while sophomore defensive specialist Kainoa Ocasek chipped in with 12 assists and three digs.
Towson got 13 kills and 13 digs from Katy Buck, while Paige Sekerak picked up a match-high 19 digs.
The match against Delaware will be video stream on GoHofstra.com, courtesy of the CAA.
