Box Score

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The Hampton University volleyball team dropped its regular season finale on Sunday, as Maryland Eastern Shore won 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-22, 25-16) at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.

The Lady Pirates (12-13, 7-5 MEAC) finish the regular season third in the MEAC Northern Division, which would qualify Hampton for the MEAC Championships for the first time since 2008. Hampton also clinched its first winning season in the MEAC since the Lady Pirates went 8-7 in 2001.

UMES, which has already clinched the MEAC Northern Division title and won 16 straight matches, has won the last 14 meetings between the two teams.

The Lady Hawks jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first set, before Hampton bounced back to take a 4-3 lead. The score tied twice before senior Mianna Armstrong (Lomond, Alberta) broke a 6-6 stalemate with a kill to give Hampton a 7-6 lead.

UMES would then take a 13-10 lead, but the Lady Pirates closed to within two after a kill from freshman Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia). Sophomore Ioana Kalfinova (Sofia, Bulgaria) added a kill later in the set to tie the score at 15-15.

The Lady Hawks seemed to take control, going up 23-19 in the first set before Hampton went on a 5-0 run to take a 24-23 lead. UMES tied the set at 24-24, but a Lady Hawks service error and a Maksimovic kill gave Hampton the first set 26-24.

Hampton went up 6-2 in the second set after a Kalfinova kill, but UMES charged back to take an 11-9 lead with a 9-3 run. From there, the Lady Hawks took control and won the second set 25-18 to tie the match at 1-1.

UMES jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set, and led by as many as eight, before a kill from junior Mariah Baylor (Minneapolis, Minn.) kicked off an 8-3 run that allowed the Lady Pirates to close to within two, 24-22, on a kill from freshman Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia).

Kraskura recorded another kill to tie the fourth set at 6-6, but the Lady Hawks took the lead on the next rally and never relinquished control. At one point, UMES went up 22-11, capping a 16-5 run en route to closing out the conference schedule undefeated.

The Lady Pirates hit .100 for the match, recording 44 kills and 30 errors in 140 total attacks. Hampton hit a team-best .154 (11 kills, seven errors in 26 attacks) in the second set, while the Lady Pirates also hit .143 (13 kills, eight errors in 35 attacks) in the first set.

The Lady Hawks (21-6, 12-0 MEAC) hit .216 for the match, thanks to 53 kills and 21 errors in 148 total attacks. UMES hit a team-best .344 in the fourth set, with 15 kills and four errors in 32 attacks, while also hitting .367 (14 kills, three errors in 30 attacks) in the second set.

UMES also had a 10-1 edge in service aces.

Kraskura led the Lady Pirates with 12 kills, while also adding 13 digs on defense for her ninth double-double of the season. Maksimovic added 10 kills and 14 digs for her first career double-double. Kalfinova hit a team-best .438, recording eight kills and just one error in 16 attacks.

Senior Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) had 37 of Hampton's 40 assists, while sophomore Sheileen Pagan (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) had a team-high 15 digs on defense.

Maline Vaitai led UMES with 15 kills, while Saitaua Iosia added 12 kills and 10 digs.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Friday, when they compete in the quarterfinals of the 2011 MEAC Championships at Coppin State in Baltimore, Md. Seedings and match times will be released later in the week.

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.