Pride gets first home win of the season – The Hofstra Chronicle

In their second home game of the season, the Hofstra University volleyball team picked up a dominant 3-0 win over Hampton University on September 27th. The Pride are now 2-1 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play and 6-6 overall.

“Any win in the CAA is a great win,” Hofstra head coach Emily Mansur said. “We’re happy about our first home win of the season, that’s very nice.”

The Pride are starting to get going midway through the season, while the Pirates continue to struggle in their 2024 season as they remain winless in a total of 14 games.

Hofstra's Constanza Perez Sain dominated the field, leading the team with 13 kills, while Yagmur Cinel and Clara Bal combined for 18 kills. Ellie Pamatat continues to be successful with 34 assists in the game.

“[Sain] is an aggressive player,” explained Mansur. “[Pamatat] and she has a great connection on and off the field, which helps.”

Hampton had no chance against the heated Hofstra offense in Friday night's game. The Pride came out strong and hammered the ball over the net. In the first set, Hofstra led by as many as 10 points and won the first set 25-12.

This continued in the next two sets as the Pride defeated the Pirates 25-15 in the second set and 25-16 in the third set en route to victory.

In addition to their dominance, Mansur gave playing time to some of their new players, including Karson Catalanotto.

“[Catalanotto] started [in] Set 2 and she did a really good job, she completely changed the momentum for us [in] Set 3,” Mansur said. “We were on the ground, she came in, we kept running and never stopped there. She has made great progress.”

On the other side of the roster, this was the first full game that Cinel, in her fifth year, started all season for the Pride. From the first moment, Mansur is thrilled by what she sees.

“It's good to see [Cinel] “We’re moving a little bit more,” Mansur said. “It will be a process.

Hofstra faced the same Hampton team in an afternoon rematch on September 28th. The first serve was scheduled for 1 p.m

Photo courtesy of Ethan Albin