Opponent Websites: Howard | Morgan State

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team will close out Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play this weekend, playing host to Howard on Friday evening to celebrate Senior Night, before heading to Baltimore, Md. on Sunday to face Morgan State.

Friday's match will begin at 6 p.m., with Sunday's match starting at 3 p.m. Prior to Friday night's match against Howard, seniors Aaryn Harrison (Cary, N.C.) and Ivana Suput (Zitiste, Serbia), as well as junior Lina Cordoba (Bogota, Colombia) will be honored as part of Senior Night.

The Lady Pirates (6-22, 2-6 MEAC) are 13-28 all-time against Howard, having won the last three meetings – including a 3-2 decision earlier this season on Oct. 17. Hampton beat the Lady Bison 3-1 last season in Holland Hall.

Morgan State leads the all-time series against Hampton 31-2, having won the last three meetings. The Lady Bears swept the Lady Pirates in three sets on Oct. 22 in Holland Hall.

Heading into this weekend's action, the Lady Pirates sit tied for fifth in the MEAC Northern Division with Coppin State with a 2-6 conference mark. Howard (7-17, 4-3 MEAC) sits third in the division, while Morgan State (5-18, 3-5 MEAC) is fourth.

The top four teams in the division will qualify for the 2010 MEAC Championships, held Nov. 19-21 in Baltimore, Md.

Harrison leads the Lady Pirates with 249 kills so far this season, averaging 2.71 per set. She has 1,047 kills for her career, ranking fourth on the program's all-time kills list. Freshman Sheileen Pagan (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) is second in kills with 169 – an average of 1.92 per set – while Cordoba has 109 kills and leads the team with a .261 hitting percentage.

Suput leads the Lady Pirates with 18 service aces, while Pagan has 16 and junior Juliana Chavez (Bogota, Colombia) has 15. Harrison and junior Mianna Armstrong (Lomond, Alberta) each have 14 service aces.

Junior Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) has a team-high 524 assists so far this season, averaging 7.18 per set, while Chavez has 216 – an average of 5.14 per set.

Suput, despite missing nine matches with injuries, leads the team with 226 digs on defense – an average of 3.48 per set. Pagan has 178 digs on the season, second-most on the team, while Harrison has 114 and Elkayam another 109.

Armstrong has 100 digs on the season.

The Lady Bison have won three straight matches after beating Delaware State in five sets, and they are led by junior Tosin Elebute, who has 291 kills so far this season, averaging 3.34 per set. Elebute is also hitting a team-best .197 and is second on the team with 21 service aces.

Senior Keri Partridge is second on the team in kills with 143, while junior Gabrielle Martin has 114 and senior Gazelle d'Artois has 102. Junior Jiyana Brown leads the team with 22 service aces.

Morgan State is on a three-match losing streak, including a four-set loss to Coppin State this past Sunday. Junior Erin Cox leads the Lady Bears with 233 kills so far this season, averaging 2.81 per set, and she sits second on the team with 15 service aces. Senior Dominique Bozier is second on the team with 153 kills, while freshman Ngebui Chafeh has 105 kills.

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.