Box Score

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team had a historic day at Holland Hall on Sunday, beating conference foe Delaware State 3-2 (23-25, 25-15, 26-28, 25-18, 15-4).

The Lady Pirates improved to 9-9 on the season and 4-1 in MEAC play, while Delaware State, dropping its third straight match, fell to 3-15 overall and 2-4 in the conference. Hampton won its first match over Delaware State since 2005.

Senior Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) recorded 44 assists to break the program's all-time career assists record. She broke the mark previously held by Brenda Gonzalez (1998-2001) in the second set, and now has 2,598 assists for her career.

Freshman Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) gave Hampton a 5-4 lead in the first set, before Delaware State responded to take a 7-5 lead. The Lady Pirates fought back, taking an 8-7 lead after a kill from junior Mariah Baylor (Minneapolis, Minn.) and a service ace from senior Mianna Armstrong (Lomond, Alberta).

Junior Ornela Cadavid (Cali, Colombia) recorded her first kill of the match to put Hampton up 12-11, but the Lady Hornets answered with a 6-1 spurt to take a 17-13 lead and control of the set. Hampton closed to within two, 24-22, but Delaware State held on.

The Lady Pirates jumped out to a 6-1 lead to open the second set after a block by sophomores Petra Parros (Bloomfield, N.J.) and Ioana Kalfinova (Sofia, Bulgaria) and a kill from Kalfinova. Armstrong added a kill to put Hampton up 8-3.

The Lady Pirates then used a 6-0 run midway through the set, taking a 17-6 lead after Baylor and Elkayam teamed on a block. Baylor later added a kill to put Hampton up 18-8.

An ace from freshman Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia) gave the Lady Pirates the second set.

Delaware State established control early in the third set, going up 13-6 before senior Juliana Chavez (Bogota, Colombia) recorded a kill to pull Hampton within 13-7. The Lady Hornets would then go up 23-19, before Hampton fought back, tying the set 23-23 after a pair of Kraskura kills.

After three ties and three lead changes, the Lady Hornets took the third set 28-26.

Hampton went up 8-4 to open the fourth set after another Kraskura kill, before Delaware State scored four straight to tie the set 8-8. Cadavid and Armstrong teamed on a block to give the lead back to the Lady Pirates – a lead they would never relinquish.

Delaware State stayed close to Hampton early in the fifth set, clawing to within 4-3, but the Lady Pirates went on an 11-1 run down the stretch to finally wrestle away control of the match. An Armstrong ace proved to be the decisive point.

Hampton hit .212 as a team, recording 62 kills and 24 errors in 179 total attacks. The Lady Pirates hit a team-best .357 (13 kills, three errors in 28 attacks), while also hitting .350 (eight kills, one error in 20 attacks) in the decisive fifth set.

The Lady Pirates also held a 7-5 edge in service aces.

Delaware State hit .124 as a team, with 52 kills and 29 errors in 185 attacks. The Lady Hornets hit a team-best .270 in the first set, thanks to 14 kills and four errors in 47 attacks – while also hitting  .250 (18 kills, seven errors in 44 attacks) in the third set.

Hampton held the Lady Hornets to -.045 hitting in the fifth set.

Kraskura led the Lady Pirates with 18 kills to go along with 21 digs on defense for her sixth double-double of the season. She hit .326 for the match, recording just four errors in 33 attacks. Armstrong added 15 kills and a career-high 22 digs – her fifth double-double of the season –hitting .256.

Cadavid and Kalfinova each added eight kills. Parros added six kills off the bench, going error-free in 15 attacks to hit .400.

Chavez added 11 assists to Elkayam's total, while sophomore Sheileen Pagan (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico)  led Hampton with 32 digs.

Jessica Russell-Croucher led the Lady Hornets with 21 kills, while Christobel Fakaosi had 44 of the team's 48 assists. Sonya Inderbitzin led four Delaware State players in double figures in digs with 17.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they head to Baltimore, Md. to take on Morgan 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.