HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Five players recorded double digit kills but it was not enough as the Towson University volleyball team fell to Hofstra University in a back-and-forth Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) battle on Friday evening. Senior Haley Pa'akaula recorded her 900th career kill while redshirt junior Candace Steadman had a career-high 17 kills for the Tigers (23-5, 10-4 CAA).

THE BASICS
Hofstra 3, Towson 2
David S. Mack Physical Education Center, Hempstead, N.Y.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Towson jumped out to a 10-7 lead in the first set on a kill from sophomore Julymar Otero. A 7-1 run by the Pride (18-9, 9-3 CAA) gave the home team a 14-11 advantage and forced the Tigers to call timeout. Nanishka Perez had a kill and a service ace for Hofstra during that run. The two teams traded points and a kill from Steadman tied the set at 16-16. A service ace from redshirt freshman Anna Holehouse gave Towson a 20-18 lead. Hofstra closed the set on a 7-3 run and claimed a 25-23 set win. Veronika Kostova had a pair of kills and a block during that key stretch for the Pride.
• Hofstra hit .226 in the set with four service aces and three blocks. Kostova led the Pride with seven kills in the set. Towson hit .243 in the set while junior Jessica Lewis had four kills.
• A kill from Lewis helped the Tigers open up a 9-5 lead in the second set. A service ace from senior Kyana Miller helped the Tigers extend that advantage to 16-7. A kill from Otero gave Towson a 20-9 lead in the set. A block from freshman Jocelyn Kuilan and junior Lindsay Flaherty helped Towson take a 22-11 advantage. The Tigers closed out a 25-14 set win on an attack error by the Pride.
• Towson hit a blistering .462 in the set as Pa'akaula had five kills while hitting .556. Lewis added four kills while hitting .571 in the set. Hofstra hit .031 in the set.
• Towson opened up an 8-5 lead in the third set but the Pride battled back and used a pair of service aces from Brianna Montgomery to take a 16-14 lead. A kill from Kostova pushed the Hofstra lead to 21-17. Towson scored five of the next seven points and pulled to within one, 23-22. However a service error and an attack error by the Tigers gave Hofstra a 25-22 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
• Hofstra hit .348 in the third set and got four kills from Kostova. Pa'akaula experienced a career milestone in the set as her second of four kills gave her 900 for her career. Steadman was a perfect 5-for-5 on attack attempts in the set.
• A kill from Otero allowed Towson to open up a 6-2 lead in the fourth set and forced Hofstra to use an early timeout. Another kill from Otero extended the Tiger advantage to 14-7. A service ace from freshman Carola Biver gave Towson a 16-9 lead in the set. The two teams traded points as an attack error by the Tigers allowed Hofstra to tie the set at 22-22. A pair of kills from Steadman and one from Otero helped Towson claim a 25-23 set win and forced the match to a fifth set.
• Towson hit .375 in the set as Steadman, Lewis and Otero all had four kills.
• The fifth set saw the two teams go point-for-point as there were 11 ties and five lead changes in the set. Hofstra took a 13-12 on a service ace but the Tigers responded with a kill from Steadman which tied the set at 13-13. A block from Pa'akaula and freshman Allison Tiegs gave Towson a 14-13 lead. However that was the final point scored by the Tigers. The Pride used a pair of kills from Leticia Valente and Montgomery to take the 16-14 set win and victory in the match.
• Hofstra hit .182 in the set while the Tigers hit .136. The Pride got four kills each from Valente and Kostova in the set while Steadman had four kills for the Tigers.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Tigers saw their four match win streak snapped as they fell to fourth place in the CAA standings.
• Pa'akaula had 15 kills while becoming the 16th player in program history with 900 or more kills in her career.
• Steadman hit .667 while recording her career-high 17 kills.
• The Tigers had five players record double digit kills for the second time this season. Steadman (17), Pa'akaula (15), Lewis (14), Otero (11) and Kuilan (11) all recorded double digit kills against the Pride.
• Miller had 36 assists and 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the year.
• Holehouse had 17 digs and moved into second place on the single-season digs list at Towson with 537.

The Tigers wrap up the road trip when they visit Northeastern on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.