BALTIMORE, Md. – The Hampton University volleyball team defeated South Carolina State in the quarterfinals of the MEAC Championships for the third straight season on Friday, taking a 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-22) win at Coppin State's Physical Education Complex.

The Lady Pirates (17-10), the Northern Division's top seed, have won four straight matches and advanced to Saturday's semifinal round to take on Howard, the No. 3 seed in the North, at 12 p.m.

Junior rightside Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic), the MEAC Player of the Year, led the way with 22 kills, while junior outside hitter Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) added 16 kills and hit .367 for the match.

Strakova is 19 kills shy of 1,000 for her Hampton career.

Junior outside hitter Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) added nine kills, and she had a team-high five aces along with junior middle blocker Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia). Senior middle blocker Petra Parros (Bloomfield, N.J.) added five kills and was error-free in 10 attacks.

Senior setter Bibiany Fonseca (Uberlandia, Brazil) had 42 of Hampton's 47 assists, and sophomore outside hitter Allysa Medina (Menifee, Calif.) led the way with 12 digs on defense.

The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 5-1 lead to open the match, before Hampton went on a 9-0 run to take a 10-5 lead after Kocevksa and Maksimovic teamed on a block. South Carolina State scored the next two points, before the Lady Pirates scored three in a row to go up 13-7.

South Carolina State closed the gap to 17-15, before Hampton kept the gap and went up 22-18 on a kill from Strakova. But the Lady Bulldogs closed the set with a 7-0 run to take the first set 25-22.

The Lady Pirates took momentum back in a big way in the second set, hitting .444 (14 kills, two errors in 27 attacks) in that set. South Carolina State actually held the early 7-5 lead, but Hampton answered with 12 straight points, going up 17-7 on a Lady Bulldogs attack error.

South Carolina State cut the lead to seven, 19-12, but Hampton scored six of the last eight points, taking the second set 25-14 – and tying the match at 1-1 – on a kill from Strakova.

The third set was tied at 5-5 before the Lady Pirates scored five of the next six points to take a 10-6 lead. But South Carolina State answered with a 4-0 spurt to tie the set at 10-10, before Hampton scored three straight to go up 13-10 on another kill from Strakova.

The Lady Bulldogs went on a 5-1 run to take a 15-14 lead, before the Lady Pirates scored seven unanswered points, going up 21-15 after an ace from Kocevska.

From there, Hampton cruised to a 25-18 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

South Carolina State opened the fourth set by taking a 5-1 lead, before the Lady Pirates tied the set at 5-5 on an ace from Kocevska. The Lady Bulldogs kept things close early, as the set was tied at 7-7, before Hampton scored the next seven points to take a 14-7 lead after a kill from Maksimovic.

The Lady Bulldogs answered with a 10-2 run to take a 17-16 lead, before the Lady Pirates scored the next two points to go up 18-17 on a Maksimovic ace.

The score was tied two more times – including at 22-22 after a 3-1 spurt by South Carolina State – but Hampton ended the set, and the match, with kills from Strkaova, Maksimovic, and Kocevska.

The Lady Pirates hit .227 (54 kills, 25 errors in 128 attacks) for the match, while holding South Carolina State to just .156 hitting (37 kills, 22 errors in 96 attacks) – marking the 16th time this season Hampton has held an opponent under .200.

Hampton also held a 14-6 edge in service aces. South Carolina State (6-22), the No. 4 seed out of the Southern Division, had 11.0 total blocks to Hampton's 9.0.

Desire Waller led the Lady Bulldogs with 14 kills, while Marissa Lawrence had 10.

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.