ATLANTA -- The Georgia State volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23) match to Hofstra on Friday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
GSU (9-11, 3-3 CAA) returns to action on Sunday at 1 p.m., when it battles Northeastern at the Sports Arena. Hofstra improves to 8-17 and 1-5 in the CAA with the win.
The fourth set proved to be as unpredictable as the first two with GSU repeatedly falling into four or five point holes. Trailing 8-3, GSU, behind the serving of Vineece Verdun, rallied to tie the set at eight. Tied at nine, Hofstra ran off four-straight points to push the lead to 13-9. GSU brought the score back to 14-13, but the Pride again went on a run and pushed their lead to 20-14. The Panthers cut the lead to 20-18 and eventually tied it at 22. A kill by A. Jones tied the set at 23, but a costly Chelsea Perry service error gave Hofstra the serve needing one point to claim the match. An attack error by Muki Kangwa gave Hofstra the fourth set win, 25-23.
Three Hofstra attackers paced the Pride with double-digit kills. Carolyn Jenkins (16), Marina Markovic (15) and Nikki Kinnier (13) all took turns peppering shots at the GSU defense. For the match, Hofstra hit .285, while limiting GSU to a .171 attack percentage. Both teams had trouble serving and returning serves all night, with Hofstra producing six service aces, but eight service errors, while GSU had nine service aces abd eight service errors. Both teams had eight total blocks.
Ashley Jones led the Panthers with 15 kills and six digs.
The first set was back and forth as evidenced by the nine ties, but Hofstra broke it open late, winning 25-18. With the score at 18-17 in favor of the Pride, Hofstra went on a 7-1 run to end the set and take the early lead. The Pride hit for a .314 percentage, while limiting the Panthers to a .121 attack percentage. Jenkins had six kills to pace Hofstra.
The second set was similar to the first with the match remaining close before Hofstra went on a late run to take the set, 25-18. With Hofstra holding a slim 17-16 lead, the Pride went on a 5-0 run to push the lead to 21-16. The Panthers scored two quick points to cut it 21-18, but Hofstra ran out the set's remaining four points to claim the 2-0 lead. The Pride had an impressive .458 attack percentage in the set.
After the break, the Panthers controlled set three from the beginning, winning 25-21, to trim the Hofstra lead to 2-1. GSU jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead behind the serving of Emily Averbeck and Jamiee Freeman. Hofstra trimmed the lead to 15-12, but could get no closer than three points, as Kangwa closed out the set with a kill.
