BALTIMORE, Md. – The Hampton University volleyball team fell in the semifinals of the MEAC Volleyball Championships on Saturday at Coppin State's Physical Education Complex, as Maryland Eastern Shore came back to win 3-2 (15-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-19, 15-13).

The Lady Pirates finished the season 19-14 overall, matching the most wins in program Div. I history in a single season – matching the team's win totals in 2005 and 2001. Saturday's loss snapped Hampton's six-match winning streak.

UMES advances to Sunday's title match against either Florida A&M or Norfolk State.

Hampton hit a staggering .842 in the first set, going error-free while recording 16 kills in 19 total attacks. UMES actually held a 6-5 lead early in that set, but the Lady Pirates went on a 6-1 run to take an 11-7 lead after a kill from sophomore Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia).

After UMES closed the gap to 12-11, Hampton scored five straight points, going up 17-11. The run eventually grew to 9-1 when sophomore Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) recorded a kill to put the Lady Pirates up 21-12.

Kraskura later added a kill to clinch the first set 25-15.

The Lady Hawks led for much of the second set, at one point going on a 7-0 run to take a 15-7 lead. The Lady Pirates fought back, closing the gap to 16-13 when Maksimovic and senior Mariah Baylor (Minneapolis, Minn.) teamed on a block.

UMES regained control, forcing set point and taking a 24-20 lead and prompting a Hampton timeout. Coming out of that break, the Lady Pirates stormed back, scoring six straight points to steal the second set 26-24 after a kill from sophomore Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic) and take a commanding 2-0 lead over the Northern Division's top seed.

The third set was back-and-forth early on, before the Lady Pirates took a 12-10 lead on a Strakova kill. But the tide turned, in part due to an injury to Kraskura, and UMES battle back to take a 15-14 lead. Junior Ioana Kalfinova (Sofia, Bulgaria) gave Hampton a 17-16 lead with a kill, but the Lady Hawks answered with six straight points to go up 22-17.

Maksimovic cut the lead to 23-20 with a kill, before UMES took the third set with back-to-back points.

UMES hit a team-best .342 in the fourth set, thanks to 20 kills and seven errors in 38 attacks. The Lady Pirates led 6-3 in the fourth set after a block from junior Bibiany Fonseca (Uberlandia, Brazil) and sophomore Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia), and Hampton later led 8-6.

But the Lady Hawks answered with eight of the next 10 points, going up 14-10. The Lady Pirates closed to within 15-14, then later closed UMES' lead to 18-17 before the Lady Hawks scored the next three points to go up 21-17.

UMES took the fourth set 25-19 to tie the match at 2-2 and take momentum into the final set.

Hampton tied the fifth set at 3-3 after a kill from Strakova, before the Lady Hawks scored three straight points to take a 6-3 lead. The Lady Pirates closed the gap to 7-6 after a block from Kocevska and Maksimovic, but another 3-0 UMES spurt grew the lead to 10-6.

After UMES took a 14-11 lead to force match point, the Lady Pirates scored the next two points – a Strakova kill and a Kocevska block – to cut the lead to 14-13.

UMES scored on the next point, though, to clinch the set and take the match.

The Lady Pirates hit .344 for the match, recording 61 kills and 17 errors in 128 total attacks, while also holding a 9.5-7.0 advantage in blocks. UMES had an 8-0 edge in service aces, and the Lady Hawks hit .273 (70 kills, 29 errors in 150 attacks) in the match.

Strakova led the Lady Pirates with 26 kills, hitting .346 for the match with just eight errors in 52 total attacks. She also had six digs and assisted on four blocks. Maksimovic added 11 kills, committing just two errors in 21 attacks to hit .429.

Kraskura had eight kills and a .444 hitting percentage before leaving in the third set with a knee injury. She also wound up with a team-high eight digs on defense.

Fonseca had 50 of Hampton's 60 assists.

Victoria Williams led UMES (27-5) with 23 kills, while Saitaua Iosia added 21 kills and Ndidi Ibe had 14.

Strakova was named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team, marking the second straight season in which a Lady Pirate made the squad. Kraskura was named to the All-Tournament Team last year.

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.