Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Hampton University volleyball team beat Morgan State 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 27-25) in the Hill Field House on Saturday afternoon in their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opener.

The Lady Pirates (10-10, 1-0 MEAC) have won three of their last four matches, and this is their first win over Morgan State since 2008. It is also Hampton's second three-set win of the season.

Hampton led 5-3 in the first set after a kill from sophomore Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic), before the Lady Bears (0-14, 0-2 MEAC) answered with three straight points to take a 6-5 lead. Two Hampton points put the Lady Pirates up 7-6 after a service ace from sophomore Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia).

Morgan State later led 13-10, before the Lady Pirates scored three straight to tie the set at 13-13. The Lady Bears then took a 17-14 lead, but Hampton went on a 4-0 run to take an 18-17 lead.

After the Lady Bears tied the set 20-20, Hampton scored three straight to go up 23-20, before scoring two of the next four points to take the first set. The Lady Pirates hit .276 (12 kills, four errors in 29 attacks) in the first set.

The Lady Pirates also hit .276 in the second set, recording 11 kills and three errors in 29 attacks. Hampton led 6-3 early in the set following a block from sophomore Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia), and the lead later grew to 11-7.

Strakova gave Hampton a 13-10 lead with a kill, and the lead later became 17-14 after a kill from sophomore Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia). Kocevska and junior Bibiany Fonseca (Uberlandia, Brazil) teamed on a block to give the Lady Pirates a 19-15 lead.

Morgan State then went on a 7-2 run to take a 22-21 lead, but Hampton scored four of the last five points to take the set, going up 2-0 in the match on another kill from Kraskura.

Strakova and Kocevska blocked a Morgan State attempt to go up 6-4 in the third set, before Morgan State later went on to take a 10-9 lead. The two teams battled back-and-forth, and the Lady Pirates went up 15-13 on a service ace from Kraskura.

Hampton then went on a 4-1 run to go up 19-14, forcing Morgan State to call a timeout.

The Lady Bears went on an 11-5 run out of the break to take a 25-24 lead and force set point, but the Lady Pirates scored the last three points, clinching the match on a kill from Maksimovic.

Strakova led the Lady Pirates with 11 kills, while Maksimovic added eight kills and Kraskura had seven. Senior Mariah Baylor (Minneapolis, Minn.) hit a team-best .375 with four kills and just one error in eight attacks.

Fonseca, seeing her first action since Sept. 15, had 28 of Hampton's 31 assists.

Strakova and Kraskura each had a team-high 10 digs on defense.

Hampton hit .225 for the match, recording 36 kills and just 13 errors in 102 total attacks. The Lady Pirates also had 8.0 blocks, to just 4.0 for Morgan State.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Sunday, when they take on Coppin State at 3 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex. 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.