Box Scores: Florida Atlantic | Stetson

DeLAND, Fla. – The Hampton University volleyball team won both of its matches on Saturday in the second day of the Stetson Clarion Classic at the Glenn Wilkes Court at the Edmunds Center.

The Lady Pirates (4-5) beat Florida Atlantic 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17, 15-10) in the morning match, before taking out host Stetson 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22) in the nightcap.

Hampton took a 5-3 lead early in the first set against the Owls, thanks to a service ace from freshman Allysa Medina (Menifee, Calif.), and the Lady Pirates led 9-8 after a block from sophomore Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia). Florida Atlantic went on a 7-1 run to take a 16-11 lead, and the Owls took control to grab the first set.

The Owls led 7-3 in the second set, before the Lady Pirates eventually clawed their way back and took a 12-11 lead. Florida Atlantic cut that lead to 15-14, but Hampton answered with six unanswered points, going up 21-14 after a kill from sophomore Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia).

After tying the match at 1-1, the Lady Pirates jumped to a 4-3 lead in the third set after a service ace from senior Mariah Baylor (Minneapolis, Minn.). Florida Atlantic responded by taking an 8-6 lead later in the set, before Hampton scored four straight points to go up 10-8.

The Owls cut Hampton's lead to 12-11, but the Lady Pirates scored three straight to go up 15-12.

The teams went back-and-forth late in the third set, before the Owls eventually took control and took the third set 25-23 to go up 2-1 in the match.

Florida Atlantic hit a team-best .394 in the third set.

Hampton opened the fourth set with a 7-1 run to seize control early, and later led 9-6 after junior Petra Parros (Bloomfield, N.J.)registered a kill off the side of her head, before the Owls scratched back to tie the set at 10-10 after going on a 9-3 run. Baylor and Kocevska later teamed on a block to put Hampton up 16-12, and from that point, the Lady Pirates ended the set with a 9-5 run.

The Lady Pirates hit .323 in the fourth set, before bettering that in the fifth set with a .421 hitting percentage. Hampton took a 5-4 lead in that set after a block from Parros and junior Bibiany Fonseca (Uberlandia, Brazil), then Hampton closed the set outscoring the Owls 10-6.

Sophomore Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) led Hampton with 14 kills and 11 digs on defense, hitting .205. Kraskura added 11 kills and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Fonseca hit a team-best .538, had nine kills, 38 assists, and five service aces.

Medina added 10 digs on defense against the Owls (1-3).

Stetson jumped to a 6-2 lead to open the first set of the nightcap, before the Lady Pirates fought their way back to tie the set at 9-9 after a service ace from Medina. Hampton later went up 14-13 on a Kraskura kill, before the teams traded points on several occasions.

The set was tied 23-23, before Maksimovic notched a kill and the Lady Pirates clinched the first set on a Stetson error.

Hampton hit a match-best .400 in the first set, with 17 kills and just three errors.

Hampton jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set, thanks to an ace from Kraskura, then went up 12-7 later in the set after a kill from Parros. Stetson went on a 7-2 run to tie the set at 20-20, before a Parros kill and a block from Parros and Kraskura put Hampton up 22-20.

Stetson tied the set at 23-23, but Hampton again closed out the set with back-to-back points.

The Hatters (1-7) took control in the third set, hitting .143 as a team and fending off Hampton after the Lady Pirates took a 14-13 lead on a block from Maksimovic and Baylor. Stetson used an 8-1 run to take a 21-15 lead, before closing out the set with another 4-2 spurt.

Kraskura notched a kill in the fourth set to put the Lady Pirates up 17-9, but the Hatters scored the next six points to close to within 17-15. Stetson later tied the set at 18-18, before Maksimovic recorded a kill to put Hampton back up 19-18.

Baylor and Kocevska blocked a shot to give the Lady Pirates a 22-18 lead, and Hampton held off a late Hatters rally to pick up its second straight win.

Kraskura notched yet another double-double – her fifth – with a team-high 17 kills and 15 digs. Maksimovic had 14 kills and nine digs, while Fonseca had 45 of the team's 50 assists to go along with 10 digs and four kills.

Parros hit a team-best .417 with seven kills and just two errors.

Medina had a team-high 18 digs.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Friday and Saturday, when they travel to Lake Charles, La. to compete in the Big Daddy's Invitational at McNeese State. 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.