Hempstead, N.Y. (October 24, 2008) ?The Robert Morris University volleyball team fell to the Hofstra Pride Friday afternoon at the Physical Fitness Center. Senior outside hitter Emily Wolthuis (Byron Center, Mich. / South Christian) led the team with 10 kills and six digs.

The Colonials got off to a slow start against the Pride, as they were defeated 25-13 in the first set. Hofstra earned the early 6-1 lead with four different players contributing kills. Wolthuis was able to fire things up for the Colonials and put down two kills, and with the addition of a few attack errors by Hofstra were able to tie it up 6-6. Unfortunately, the Hofstra offense continued to generate a solid attack and led for the remainder of the set.

In the set one defeat, freshman Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) led Robert Morris hitters with three kills, while Wolthuis added two put downs.

In set two, Robert Morris was able to give Hofstra more of a challenge and remained within one to two points of the Pride till midway through the set.  The Colonials started off with the early 2-0 advantage, with  Wolthuis leading the way with the first Colonial kill. The Pride answered back with a kill, but the Colonials benefitted from a pair of Hofstra errors , another kill by Wolthuis and a service ace by freshman setter Alyssa Bennett (Ramona, Calif. / Ramona) to increase their lead to 5-1.

Hofstra slowly inched their way back into the set and from that point the two teams were tied eight times. At 15-15 Hofstra's Ashley Legerretta notched back-to back kills to pull away from the Colonials and lead the Pride to a 25-20 victory.

Despite a solid fight from the Colonials, Hofstra was able to close out the match in the third set with a 25-14 set win.

Bennett tallied a team high 24 assists to go along with seven digs and one service ace, while senior Alaina Gibson (Muncie, Ind. / Muncie Burris)  led the team in digs with eight and Veith captured a team high hitting percentage of .417.

Leading the way for Hofstra was Monica Knight and Legerretta, who tallied 15 and nine kills, respectively.

The Colonials return to action tomorrow, Oct. 25 to face conference rival Wagner at 4:00 p.m.