Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Hampton University volleyball team defeated Stetson University 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 27-25) on Friday at Moore Gymnasium as part of the Holiday Inn Resort/Bethune-Cookman Invitational.

The win snaps the Lady Pirates' three-match losing streak.

Stetson jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set, before freshman Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) recorded her first two career kills and assisted junior Mariah Baylor (Minneapolis, Minn.) on a block to pull the Lady Pirates to within 6-5.

But that was just the beginning for Kraskura.

Baylor and senior Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) teamed up on another block to tie the set at 6-6, before sophomore Ioana Kalfinova (Sofia, Bulgaria) slammed home an ace to give Hampton a 7-6 lead.

Stetson then went on a 6-2 run to take a 13-8 lead, but the Lady Pirates responded with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 14-14 before Kalfinova and junior Ornela Cadavid (Cali, Colombia) teamed up on a block to put Hampton up 15-14.

Six unanswered points would put Hampton up 20-14, before the Lady Pirates won the first set 25-19.

Hampton opened the second set on a 6-1 run, culminating in another kill for Kraskura, who would record six kills in the second set alone. Stetson got as close as to within two on several occasions, but Hampton clinched the set on a Cadavid kill to put the score at 25-21.

Stetson jumped to a 3-1 lead in the third set, before the Lady Pirates rebounded to tie the set at 4-4. Kraskura, who had quite the collegiate debut, recorded a kill and her first career ace to put Hampton up 9-6, and freshman Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) slammed a kill to give the Lady Pirates a 12-6 lead.

The Hatters clawed their way back, though, and a 7-1 run later in the set would give Stetson at 19-17 lead. Stetson would grow that lead to 23-19, but the Lady Pirates hung tough – as block from Cadavid and Kalfinova cut Stetson's lead to 24-22 – before the Hatters clinched the set.

Kraskura recorded a kill early in the fourth set to give Hampton a 3-2 lead – a lead that would grow to 7-2 after an ace from senior Mianna Armstrong (Lomond, Alberta). Stetson would go on a 5-0 run to tie the set at 7-7, but Hampton took a 9-7 lead after Baylor and Kalfinova teamed up on a block.

Hampton and Stetson traded the lead several times throughout the set, before the Hatters seemingly took control 23-20. Baylor kicked off a Lady Pirates rally with a kill, before Kalfinova recorded a kill of her own to tie the set at 23-23.

The two teams would trade points four times, before Kraskura gave the Lady Pirates a 26-25 lead with a kill and Baylor ended the match with a service ace.

Hampton (2-5) hit .155 as a team, thanks to 49 kills and 25 errors in 155 total attacks. The Lady Pirates hit a team-best .323 (13 kills, three errors in 31 attacks) in the first set, while adding 15 kills and just seven errors in 39 attacks in the second set to hit .205.

Stetson hit .106 as a team, with 43 kills and 26 errors in 160 attacks. The Hatters' best set was the second, in which they hit .195 (13 kills, five errors in 41 attacks).

Stetson also held an 11-9 edge in service aces.

Kraskura led the Lady Pirates with 20 kills and 24 digs on defense to record a double-double in her collegiate debut. She recorded just 10 errors in 57 total attacks to hit .175 for the match.

Kalfinova had a career-high 12 kills in 29 attacks, recording just four errors to hit a team-best .276. She also tied the team-high with two service aces. Armstrong and Baylor also had two service aces each for Hampton.

Elkayam led the way with 30 of the Lady Pirates' 42 assists.

Sophomore Sheileen Pagan (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) recorded 19 digs on defense, while Armstrong added 14 digs and Elkayam had 11 digs.

Kaley Melville led Stetson (2-5) with 16 kills, while Kaylee Ream and Taylor Story each had three service aces. Four Hatters recorded double-digit digs – led by Monique Russell's 17.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Saturday, when they square off against Samford at 2 p.m. and tournament host Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. on the second day of the Holiday Inn Resort/B-CU Invitational.

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.