Tournament Notes

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The Hampton University volleyball team, having won two straight matches, will compete in the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawk Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.

Hampton will open play on Friday against North Carolina Central at 3 p.m., before playing a pair of matches on Saturday; the Lady Pirates will face Alabama State at 10 a.m., before ending with a 2 p.m. match against Cal State-Bakersfield.

Hampton will not face tournament host UMES this weekend.

The Lady Pirates (4-7, 1-0 MEAC) picked up their first conference win of the season on Wednesday night, defeating archrival Norfolk State 3-1 (14-25, 25-18, 25-22, 30-28) in Echols Hall in Norfolk, Va. Hampton defeated Norfolk State for the first time since Nov. 6, 2007, ending the Spartans' six-match winning streak in the series.

The Lady Pirates are now 2-0 on the season in four-set matches, having also defeated Stetson in four sets on Sept. 16 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Freshman outside hitter Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia), in just her fifth career match, recorded her second double-double of the season with a team-high 16 kills and 18 digs on defense. She hit .244 thanks to just five errors in 45 attacks, and Kraskura also had five blocks on the night.

The Lady Pirates' 4-7 start to the 2011 season is the team's best heading into October since 2007, when Hampton was 9-10 head into Oct. 1 in head coach Pedro Gonzalez's first season. The Lady Pirates were also 5-11 heading into Oct. 1 in 2009.

Senior setter Lihi Elkayam (Misgav, Israel) is closing in on Hampton's all-time record for career assists, currently held by Brenda Gonzalez (1998-2001). Elkayam totaled 65 assists in three matches at the Hilton RTP/NCCU Tournament in Durham, N.C., before adding 24 assists in the Northern Arizona Fiesta Bowl, an impressive 123 in the Holiday Inn Resort/Bethune-Cookman Invitational and 36 against Norfolk State to give her 2,504 assists for her career.

Elkayam is only 57 assists shy of tying Gonzalez, and she is third all-time in program history in assists per set, averaging 7.59 assists per set in 330 career sets played heading into this weekend's action.

The Lady Pirates are 5-2 all-time against Alabama State and have won four in a row in the series — including a five-set win on Sept. 26, 2008. Hampton is also 9-16 against North Carolina Central, having won four straight against the Lady Eagles — including a five-set win earlier this season to close out the Hilton RTP/NCCU Tournament in Durham, N.C.

Hampton has never faced Cal State Bakersfield.

Live stats via Gametracker will be available through UMES' official athletic website; access live stats by clicking here.

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.