Tournament Notes

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Hampton University volleyball team will compete in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl Volleyball Tournament hosted by Northern Arizona University on Friday and Saturday at the Rolle Activity Center.

The Lady Pirates will face New Mexico on Friday at 4 p.m.PST (Pacific Standard Time), before taking on tournament host Northern Arizona on Saturday at 1 p.m. PST and San Jose State at 4 p.m. PST.

The Lady Pirates (1-2) are coming off the Hilton RTP/North Carolina Central Invitational this past weekend in Durham, N.C., where they fell to Elon in three sets and split a pair of five-set matches with Campbell (a 3-2 loss) and tournament host NCCU (a 3-2 win).

Senior Mianna Armstrong (Lomond, Alberta) had two double-doubles in that tournament – 11 kills, 10 digs against Campbell and 13 kills and 10 digs against NCCU – en route to earning All-Tournament Team honors.

Freshman Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) made quite the first impression at NCCU; in nine sets played in three matches, Maksimovic had 13 kills — including nine against NCCU — and three service aces. She hit .355 for the weekend, totaling just two errors in 31 total attacks.

She hit .600 against Campbell, recording three kills in five attacks without any errors. All three kills and both service aces against Campbell came in the fourth set.

The Lady Pirates' 1-2 start to the 2011 season is their best start since opening 2009 with a 2-0 record. That season, Hampton started the season with wins over Winston-Salem State and the U.S. Naval Academy in its home gym at Holland Hall.

After the first weekend of action, the Lady Pirates top the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in several categories. As a team, Hampton has the conference's best hitting percentage at .205 (130 kills, 61 errors in 336 attacks), while also sitting tied for third in the MEAC with 10.00 kills per set as a team. Hampton also has 24 service aces in 13 sets so far this season, a MEAC-best average of 1.85 per set.

Junior Ornela Cadavid (Cali, Colombia) leads the MEAC in individual hitting percentage at .359 coming into the weekend, while Maksimovic is second at .355.

Sophomore Sheileen Pagan (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) is third in the MEAC with 12 service aces (0.58 per set) and tied for fifth in the MEAC with 3.00 points per set.

Senior Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) is sixth in the MEAC with an average of 5.42 assists per set. She has 65 assists so far this season, leaving her 240 shy of tying the school record for career assists set by Brenda Gonzalez (1998-2001).

Hampton is 0-1 all-time against Northern Arizona; the two teams met on Sept. 12, 2008, with the Lumberjacks winning in three sets.

The Lady Pirates have never faced either San Jose State or New Mexico.

Live stats will be available for every match of the Fiesta Bowl, and live video of NAU's matches will be available through the Lumberjacks' official website at www.nauathletics.com.

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.