Weekly Notes

RICHMOND, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team will close out the non-conference portion of its 2013 schedule on Wednesday, when the Lady Pirates head to the Siegel Center to take on Virginia Commonwealth at 7 p.m.

The Lady Pirates (8-7) have won three straight matches, including their conference openers this past Friday and Sunday against Norfolk State and Morgan State, respectively. Last week also included a five-set win over William & Mary, a school Hampton had not defeated in 17 prior meetings.

VCU (12-4) has won five of its last seven matches and will be home for the first time this season.

After this past weekend's action, junior rightside Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic), the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, leads the nation in both points (6.67 per set) and kills (5.73 per set), while also ranking 11th in aces (0.54 per set).

She also leads the MEAC in those three categories, and her .279 hitting percentage is third-best in the conference.

Junior middle blocker Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia) is 35th in the nation – and third in the MEAC – in aces with 0.44 per set, and senior setter Bibiany Fonseca (Uberlandia, Brazil) leads the MEAC with 10.34 per set.

She has 1,564 career assists at Hampton, 32 shy of fifth-most in program history.

As a team, the Lady Pirates lead the conference in hitting percentage (.230), kills (13.36 per set), assists (12.05 per set), and aces (1.80) – and they rank 13th nationally in aces, 92nd in kills, and 93rd in hitting percentage.

Hampton is third in the MEAC in both opponents' hitting percentage (.210) and blocks (1.83 per set), and the Lady Pirates are fourth in the conference in digs, averaging 12.98 per set.

So far this season, Hampton is 2-4 in road matches, and the Lady Pirates won their last road contest on Friday in beating rival Norfolk State in five sets. Their other road win came on Aug. 30 to open the season, when Hampton beat North Carolina Central in straight sets.

The Lady Pirates are 0-24 all-time against VCU, and the two teams have not met since 2010.

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.