DURHAM, N.C. – There's an old adage is baseball: Three up, three down. The same was true for the Hampton University volleyball team, which opened the 2013 season Friday evening with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 28-26) win over North Carolina Central at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

This marks the second straight season in which the Lady Pirates (1-0) opened with a win.

Junior Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic) led the way with 16 kills for the Lady Pirates, hitting .387. She also led Hampton with four service aces, while also adding five digs on defense. Junior Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) added eight kills and a team-high 11 digs, while sophomore Allysa Medina (Menifee, Calif.) added five kills.

Senior Bibiany Fonseca (Uberlandia, Brazil) had 31 of Hampton's 34 assists.

NCCU opened the first set with three straight points, before the Lady Pirates rebounded and went on a 13-4 run to take a 13-7 lead after one of Strakova's aces. The Lady Eagles clawed to within three, cutting Hampton's lead to 16-13, but the Lady Pirates closed out the opening set with nine of the next 13 points.

The Lady Pirates hit .222 as a team (11 kills, five errors in 27 attacks) in the first set. They bettered that mark in the second set, hitting a match-best .226 in that frame, thanks to 12 team kills and just five errors in 31 attacks.

Hampton also held NCCU to a .000 hitting percentage in the second set, with nine kills and nine errors.

The Lady Pirates led 4-0 in the second set after a service ace from senior Ioana Kalfinova (Sofia, Bulgaria), then Hampton took a 7-2 lead after an NCCU error. The Lady Eagles fought back, tying the set on three separate occasions, but once the set was tied 11-11, Hampton scored six straight points, going up 17-11 on another NCCU error.

NCCU fought back yet again, cutting the Lady Pirates' lead to 22-20, but a Fonseca kill, an NCCU error, and a kill from Strakova gave the Lady Pirates the 25-20 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was a true nailbiter, though the Lady Pirates appeared set to end the match with a convincing set win. NCCU opened the set by taking a 7-4 lead, before the Lady Pirates went on a 4-0 spurt to take an 8-7 lead after another NCCU error.

Hampton then scored 17 of the next 27 points, taking a 24-18 lead and looking at match point. But the Lady Eagles answered by scoring the next seven points, taking a 25-24 lead and forcing the Lady Pirates into set point.

The Lady Pirates called timeout, then scored two straight points to take a 26-25 lead on a kill from sophomore Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia). NCCU then broke match point to tie the set at 26-26, before Strakova gave Hampton the lead again with a kill.

Yet another NCCU error followed to end the match.

Hampton hit .212 as a team, thanks to 40 kills and just 19 errors in 99 total attacks. The Lady Pirates also held a 34-23 edge in assists and a 37-27 advantage in digs. The Lady Eagles had four total team blocks, compared to three for Hampton.

Both teams had seven service aces.

NCCU hit just .053 as a team, committing 23 errors and recording just 28 kills. Kalin Russell led NCCU (0-1) with nine kills, while Kelsey Murphy added eight kills.

The Lady Pirates will be back in action on Saturday, wrapping up the NCCU Invitational by taking on Evansville at 11 a.m. and Murray State at 3:30 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.