HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The College of Charleston volleyball team fell to Hofstra, 3-1, in a back-and-forth Colonial Athletics Association battle on Sunday afternoon that spanned more than two hours and featured more than combined 300 attack attempts.
 
Hofstra (19-7, 9-4 CAA) won the match by scores of 24-26, 25-19, 25-18, and 25-20, as the Pride recorded 57 kills, 15 blocks and 11 service aces. With the victory, Hofstra vaults the College of Charleston (15-9, 8-4 CAA) for second-place in the CAA standings. In the match, Charleston tallied 55 kills, 68 digs and seven blocks.
 
Krissy Mummey (Hudson, Ohio) paced the Cougar attack with 12 kills and a .409 hitting percentage in her return to the lineup, while Maddie Hills (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) added 11 smashes and a .308 attacking clip. Riana Brennan (Los Gatos, Calif.) turned in a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs, as Elizabeth Hurring (Ocean Springs, Miss.) and Allison Beckman (Apex, N.C.) dished out 25 and 22 assists, respectively. McKala Rhodes (Charleston, S.C.) recorded 21 digs and, after switching out from her libero jersey in the fourth, posting three kills and a block.
 
Nanishka Perez led the way for Hofstra with 13 kills and a .324 clip, while Laura Masciullo and Michela Rucli each added 11 kills. Rucli also tallied a match-high 11 blocks, as Hannah Klemm and Sophia Black posted 30 assists and 22 digs, respectively.
 
The first frame set the tone for the rest of the match, as Hofstra's defense came up big with five early blocks to help the Pride open an 11-5 lead. Hofstra would push the margin to as many as nine (20-11) before Charleston answered with three straight points to force a Pride timeout.
 
A 10-2 surge followed from the Cougars, as Charleston knotted the score at 22-22 on a block from Mummey and Jane Feddersen (Leesburg, Va.) before pushing the Pride to set point two points later. After Hofstra countered with back-to-back tallies to pull even at 24-24, Mummey and Hills each answered with a kill to hand the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Charleston carried the momentum into the early moments of the second, taking an 8-5 lead on a block by Feddersen and Brennan to force a Hofstra timeout. The Pride quickly answered with a 10-4 surge to claim a 15-12 advantage, and prompt the Cougars into a timeout of their own. Hofstra would keep the Cougars at arm's length for the remainder of the set, and even the match at 1-1 following an ace from Luisa Sydlik.
 
The Pride kept pushing in the third, taking the set by a 25-18 margin to claim a 2-1 lead in the match. A 4-0 spurt midway through the frame got the Pride going, and gave them a 14-9 advantage following an ace from Semen Sen. The Cougars would trim the margin to 21-18 with a kill from Brennan, before four straight points fell for the Pride to cap the frame.
 
The Pride continued to battle through the Cougars' tenacious defense early in the fourth, and managed to string together a 5-0 spurt to take an 11-6 lead on an ace from Sen. The Cougars slowly chipped away with a 9-5 run over the next few minutes, and capped the stretch with a Rhodes kill to cut the advantage to 16-15.
 
Three straight Cougar points followed moments later, handing Charleston a slim 18-17 lead before Hofstra countered with a 5-1 spurt to reclaim the advantage at 22-19. After Mummey answered with her 12^th kill of the day, Hofstra responded with three straight points to complete the comeback on a block by Rucli and Doris Bogoje.
 
Charleston returns home on Thursday, November 3 for the first of three home consecutive matches against James Madison. First serve is slated for 7:00 pm from TD Arena.