Box Scores: Bethune-Cookman | Arkansas State

LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Hampton University volleyball team split its first two matches of the McNeese State Big Daddy's Invitational on Friday at Memorial Gym, beating Bethune-Cookman in five sets before falling to Arkansas State in straight sets.

The Lady Pirates (5-6) beat Bethune-Cookman 3-2 (27-25, 26-28, 25-13, 22-25, 15-11), before Arkansas State beat Hampton 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) in the afternoon match.

Bethune-Cookman scored the first two points of the first set in the morning match, but Hampton answered with a 10-1 run to go up 10-3 after a kill from junior Petra Parros (Bloomfield, N.J.). The Lady Wildcats responded with a 7-3 run to close the gap to 13-10.

Sophomore Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic), making her Hampton debut, later added a kill to put the Lady Pirates up 19-13 and forcing Bethune-Cookman to burn a timeout. The Lady Wildcats scored the next three points after that break, then eventually closed to within 21-20.

B-CU later tied the set at 22-22, then took a 25-24 lead, but the score tied again after a Lady Wildcats service error. Strakova and sophomore Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) then each added a kill to clinch the first set for the Lady Pirates.

Hampton led the second set 10-7, before a 7-3 Bethune-Cookman run gave the Lady Wildcats a 14-13 lead. Strakova later tied the set at 15-15 with a kill, before junior Bibiany Fonseca (Uberlandia, Brazil) gave Hampton a 16-15 lead with a kill of her own.

The Lady Wildcats later led 23-21, before Hampton tied the set at 23-23. The two teams exchanged points several times before B-CU took control and won the second set to even the match.

Hampton exploded in the third set, hitting a match-best .571 with 17 kills and just one error in 28 attacks. The Lady Pirates scored the first five points of the set, capped off by a kill from sophomore Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia).

Kraskura added another kill later in the set to put Hampton up 10-4.

The Lady Pirates closed out the third set by scoring three straight points, regaining control and going up 2-1 in the set. Hampton then led 7-4 early in the fourth set, before Bethune-Cookman stormed back to take an 11-10 lead.

Hampton tied the set at 15-15 on a service ace from senior Mariah Baylor (Minneapolis, Minn.), but the Lady Wildcats scored four straight points to go up 19-15. The Lady Pirates closed that gap to 19-18, but a 6-4 close to the set clinched it for B-CU and forced the fifth set.

The Lady Wildcats led 5-4 early in the final set, but Hampton went up 8-6 after a Kraskura kill. B-CU answered by taking a 9-8 lead, then later led 10-9, but when Strakova tied the set at 10-10 with a kill, it triggered a 6-1 Lady Pirates run to take the set and win the match.

Hampton hit .429 in the fifth set, with 11 kills and just two errors.

Kraskura and Strakova were the stars for Hampton against Bethune-Cookman; Strakova had a team-high 22 kills, while Kraskura added 20 kills. Both players also had 14 digs on defense and three service aces. Strakova hit .354 with just five errors in 48 attacks.

Kraskura now has seven double-doubles on the season.

The Lady Pirates hit .274 for the match, recording 69 kills and just 24 errors in 164 total attacks. They also had seven service aces and 7.0 blocks as a team.

In the afternoon match, Arkansas State led the first set from the beginning. The Lady Pirates cut the lead to 9-8, before Arkansas State scored four straight points to go up 13-8. That lead later ballooned to 21-14, before ultimately taking the first set 25-19.

The Lady Pirates hit a team-best .212 in the first set, with 11 kills and four errors in 33 attacks.

An 8-2 Arkansas State run opened the second set, and the Red Wolves eventually ran out to a 16-4 lead. After Arkansas State took a 20-10 lead, the Lady Pirates scored seven unanswered points to close the gap to 20-17.

The Red Wolves closed the set with a 5-2 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Lady Pirates jumped out to an 8-2 lead to open the third set before Arkansas State took a timeout. Kraskura later registered a kill to put Hampton up 12-5, before Arkansas State scored three straight to close the gap to 12-8.

Maksimovic gave the Lady Pirates a 19-14 lead with a kill, but the Red Wolves began mounting their comeback. Arkansas State scored five unanswered points to tie the set at 19-19, then later took a 23-22 lead.

Parros tied the set at 23-23 with a kill, but the Red Wolves clinched the match with the next two points.

Kraskura led the Lady Pirates with 13 kills, while Baylor added eight kills. Kraskura and Fonseca each added a team-high eight digs on defense.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Saturday, when they take on host McNeese State at 11:30 a.m., before taking on Baylor at 4: 30 p.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.