Box Scores: Samford | Bethune-Cookman

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Hampton University volleyball team dropped both of its matches on Saturday in the Holiday Inn Resort/Bethune-Cookman Invitational at the Moore Gymnasium.

The Lady Pirates fell in straight sets to Samford, which won 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-22), before host B-CU beat Hampton 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 15-11).

The Lady Pirates (2-7) jumped to a 2-1 lead in the first set, before Samford went on a 6-2 run to take an 8-3 lead. Two Hampton points cut that lead to 8-5, but the Bulldogs scored five unanswered points to take a 13-5 lead.

Freshman Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) recorded a kill to pull the Lady Pirates to within 18-12, but Samford never lost control of the first set, winning 25-17.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, before Hampton answered with a 6-2 run to tie the set at 7-7. The score would be tied five more times, culminating in a 12-12 tie after a kill from junior Ornela Cadavid (Cali, Colombia), before Samford answered with four straight points to regain the lead.

Senior Mianna Armstrong (Lomond, Alberta) recorded a kill to cut Samford's lead to 20-18, before the Bulldogs closed the set on a 5-2 spurt.

The Bulldogs jumped to another lead early in the third set, before the Lady Pirates responded to tie set at 7-7. The two teams traded points over several rallies; sophomore Ioana Kalfinova (Sofia, Bulgaria) recorded a kill to tie the set at 13-13, and freshman Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) added a kill of her own two points later to tie the set at 14-14.

Samford regained the lead, 17-14, before the Lady Pirates fought back to tie the set at 17-17 on a Cadavid kill. Senior Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) recorded a service ace to tie the set again at 19-19, before Samford again took control and closed out the match.

The Lady Pirates hit .089 as a team, recording 25 kills and 16 errors in 101 attacks. Hampton hit a team-best .138 in the first set, recording 10 kills and six errors in 29 attacks.

Samford hit .243 as a team, recording 45 kills and 19 errors in 107 attacks. The Bulldogs' best set hitting- wise came in the first, when they hit .483 (17 kills, three errors in 29 attacks). Samford also held a 4-2 edge in service aces.

Kraskura led the Lady Pirates with seven kills in 27 attacks against Samford, recording just three errors to hit .148. She also recorded a team-high 12 digs on defense.

Cadavid added five kills for the Lady Pirates, while Kalfinova and Armstrong each recorded four kills. Armstrong went error-free in 16 attacks off the bench, leading Hampton with a .250 hitting percentage; Kalfinova, who also recorded 10 digs on defense, hit .111 with two errors in 18 attacks.

Elkayam had 21 of Hampton's 22 assists.

Lauren Hutchinson led the Bulldogs (13-1) with 15 kills, recording just one error in 24 attacks to hit .583 for the match.

The Lady Pirates were resilient in the first set against Bethune-Cookman, overcoming an 18-14 Wildcat lead to tie the set at 19-19 with a Kalfinova ace, then at 20-20 when Kraskura had an ace of her own. The Lady Pirates then took a 21-20 lead – before clinching the set on a block from Cadavid and Kalfinova.

Bethune-Cookman jumped to a 12-7 lead in the second set, before Hampton answered with as 6-2 run to cut the lead to 14-13. Hampton would get no closer than within two the rest of the way, before the Wildcats (6-7) took the set 25-18.

The third set opened with seven ties, before Hampton took a 13-11 lead on a block from Maksimovic and Cadavid. Hampton went on a 6-1 run later in the set to take a 17-12 lead on a Maksimovic ace. B-CU went on a 4-0 run late to close to 23-21, but kills from Baylor and Maksimovic clinched the third set for Hampton.

The Wildcats opened the fourth set by grabbing a 6-3 lead, before Kalfinova and Baylor each recorded a kill to cut that lead to 6-5. Kalfinova had another kill to pull Hampton to a 14-10 deficit, but Bethune-Cookman didn't let the Lady Pirates get any closer.

Cadavid recorded a kill to tie the fifth set at 3-3, but the Wildcats took the lead from there and never relinquished it.

Hampton hit .201 as a team, recording 53 kills and 22 errors in 154 attacks. The Lady Pirates' best set came in the fourth, when they hit .294 (14 kills, four errors in 34 attacks).

Bethune-Cookman hit .253 (65 kills, 23 errors in 166 attacks) as a team, hitting a team-best .500 in the fourth set thanks to 17 kills and just one error in 32 attacks.

The Wildcats also held an 11-4 edge in service aces.

Cadavid led Hampton with a career-high 15 kills, committing just three errors in 29 attacks to hit a team-best .414. Kalfinova recorded 11 kills to go along with 16 digs on defense, tied for a team high, for her first double-double of the season.

Baylor had a career-high 10 kills, committing just two errors to hit .400 for the match. Maksimovic played in three sets, recording seven kills and just one error in 19 attacks to hit .316. She also had six digs on defense.

Elkayam led the way with 33 assists, while senior Ornela Cadavid (Cali, Colombia) came off the bench to record 16 assists in three sets.

Pagan also had 16 assists on defense, while Kraskura recorded 15 digs to go along with seven kills.

In the first three matches of her collegiate career, Kraskura has 34 kills and 51 digs. She is hitting .121 with just 20 errors in 116 attacks.

Krysta Gardner led Bethune-Cookman with 29 kills (to go along with 14 digs), while Janeen Davis added 23 kills and 14 digs. Jennifer Jimenez had a team-high 17 digs.

The Lady Pirates will conclude play in the Holiday Inn Resort/B-CU Invitational on Sunday, when they take on Florida Atlantic at 11 a.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.