Box Score

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team beat the U.S. Naval Academy 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-18) Saturday afternoon in Holland Hall to wrap up the 2009 Tiny L. Laster Jr. Memorial Tri-Match.

The Lady Pirates (2-0) beat Navy for the first time in eight all-time meetings. It is also the first time the Lady Pirates have opened the season with back-to-back wins since 2007, when they kicked things off with wins over Winston-Salem State and Southern.

Despite three lead changes and six instances where the score was tied, Hampton had control of the match from the opening serve. The Lady Pirates had a team-best .414 hitting percentage (12 kills in 29 attacks) in the second set, while converting 11 of 22 attempts in the first set (.364 hitting percentage).

Aaryn Harrison (Cary, N.C.) led the Lady Pirates with 12 kills on 28 attempts, while Brittany Wynne (Sacramento, Calif.) had 11 kills and a team-best .579 hitting percentage. Lina Cordoba (Bogota , Colombia) added six kills to go along with a service ace. Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) had 31 of the team's 33 assists, while Ivana Suput (Zitiste, Serbia) recorded 19 of Hampton's 28 digs on defense.

Elkayam also led the Lady Pirates with four service aces, while Wynne and Suput each had three apiece.
Abbie Merkl led Navy (1-1) with six kills and a team-best .412 hitting percentage. Jenny Rudewicz had all 21 of her team's assists, while Holly Berger had 24 digs on defense. Merkl also had Navy's lone service ace.

Saturday's win makes Hampton the lone undefeated team left in the MEAC.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they head down I-64 to take on Norfolk State at 6 p.m. For more information on Hampton University volleyball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.