STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut women's volleyball team fell to Hofstra in four sets, in the first game played in the UConn Volleyball Center.
In front of a sold out crowd, the Huskies fed off the energy of the crowd early to help them get off to a fast start. UConn was spreading the wealth to begin the set, as their first five kills were all made by different players. Hofstra did not back down to the challenge, as they continued to fight and cut into the UConn lead. After trading points, UConn would capitalize on service receive mistakes by Hofstra to extend their lead. From there, the Huskies did not look back as they took set one by a final of 25-16.
Hofstra did not stay quiet for long as they came out in the second set as they jumped to an early 5-1 lead forcing UConn to call a timeout. The Pride came out of the timeout strong, once again extending their lead and forcing UConn to play from behind. After strong defense from Hofstra, and a couple UConn errors, the Huskies were forced to call their second timeout of the set trailing 15-9. UConn continued to fight and eventually cut the Hofstra lead by 3 thanks to sophomore Ayva Cebollero. Cebollero started the run with her defense, as she totaled three block's in the set to bring UConn to within three. Hofstra regrouped and eventually battled to take set two by a final of 25-19.
Hofstra carried momentum from set two into set three as they went on to jump out to an early 9-5 lead forcing the Huskies to use one of their timeouts. The Pride capitalized off of UConn errors, and paired that with strong defense to keep the Huskies at bay. Hofstra came out of the timeout and went on a 4-1 scoring run to force another UConn timeout. UConn continued to fight, but Hofstra overpowered the Huskies taking set three by a final of 25-14 capped off by a 6-0 scoring run. In the third set, Hofstra finished with 14 kills compared to UConn's seven.
The Pride and Huskies came out in the fourth set firing as both teams tried to jump out to an early lead. Hofstra took the lead and didn't look back as they took a commanding 14-7 lead in the set. The pride had a balanced attack as four players combined for 38 total kills. UConn continued to fight back but Hofstra's defense kept plays alive limiting any hope of the Huskies going on a scoring run. Through set four, the pride had 52 digs to UConn's 36. Hofstra would go on to win set four by a final of 25-13 and come away with the 3-1 match victory.
UConn will return to action tomorrow, Saturday, September 2 as they will play two games beginning at 1:30pm to wrap up the homestand. All games will be broadcasted on UConn+.
