HAMPTON, VA. – The Hampton University volleyball team took on cross-water rival Norfolk State University on Friday night and dropped a five-set thriller 25-19, 25-27, 20-25, 27-25, 12-15 at Holland Hall.

Freshman Micah Leavell joined a select group by smashing a season-high 30 kills to become just the fourth player in the last six years to smash 30 or more kills in a match.   She had an attack percentage of .490 with five errors in 51 attempts and added six digs on the night.  Her 30 kills are the 14^th most in a match in NCAA Division I this season.   The 30 kills are the most by a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference player this year topping the 25 of teammate Reeana Richardson against Loyola (MD) on September 16.

Joining Leavell in the multi-kills department was Richardson with 22 kills, and also six digs.  Brianna Lilly had a career-high 55 assists and seven digs to go with four kills, while Summer Humes matched her career-high with 14 digs.

In the opening set, Hampton raced out to an 8-2 lead off a kill from Lilly.  Norfolk State cut the deficit in half off an ace from Alex Irizarry to trail 14-11, but that was as close as it got in the opener as Hampton pushed the advantage back to six at 20-14 off a Lena Washington ace and won 25-19.

The middle two sets saw the Spartans gain momentum.  Set two had 10 ties and five lead changes as a Leavell kill evened the set at 25-all before Norfolk State won 27-25.  The third set saw nine ties and five lead changes as the visitors ran off seven out of eight points to rally from down 15-13 to up 20-16 as they took the third set 25-20.

In set four, Norfolk State appeared to be on the way to end the match leading 18-11 off a Jessica Johnson kill.  Hampton started a rally and behind Humes' serving helped put the Lady Pirates up 25-24 on the second of back-to-back aces.  After a NSU point, a pair of kills from Leavell gave Hampton a 27-25 fourth set win to force the deciding fifth set.

Hampton held a 7-6 lead in the fifth set after a Richardson kill, but the Spartans scored six of the next eight points to take a 12-9 lead off a Dominique Parker kill before winning 15-12.

The Lady Pirates are back in action on Sunday as they travel to Maryland Eastern Shore for a 2pm start in Princess Anne, Md.

For more information on Hampton University volleyball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5906 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.