NORFOLK, Va. – The second round of the volleyball Battle of the Bay went much like the first, as the Hampton University volleyball team swept past Norfolk State 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-16) Sunday afternoon in Echols Hall.
 
The Lady Pirates (11-9, 6-0 MEAC) have won six of the last nine meetings between the two teams.
 
Senior rightside Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic) led the way with 14 kills, leaving her just four kills shy of tying the program's all-time career kills record, which Chavanca Hoskins (2003-06) holds at 1,472.
 
Senior outside hitters Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) and Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) each had eight kills, and Kraskura added a team-high 10 digs. Maksimovic hit .412 for the match, and senior middle blocker Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia) hit .667 with five kills and just one error.
 
Senior setter Kitija Megne (Kuldiga, Latvia) had 34 assists and a team-high two aces.
 
The Lady Pirates hit .310 (40 kills, 14 errors in 84 attacks) for the match, while holding the Spartans (0-19, 0-7 MEAC) to just .078 hitting. Hampton also held an 8-4 edge in service aces and a 6.0-3.0 advantage in team blocks.
 
Hampton hit .333 (16 kills, four errors in 36 attacks) in the first set, even though Norfolk State held an early 6-3 lead. The Lady Pirates responded by going on an 11-3 run, taking a 14-9 lead after a kill from redshirt freshman middle blocker Kennedy Kenney (Milpitas, Calif.).
 
The Spartans cut the lead to 16-12 before the Lady Pirates rattled off the next three points to go up 19-12 after a Norfolk State attack error.
 
Norfolk State cut the lead to 20-16, but Hampton ended the set on a 5-2 spurt, taking the set 25-18 after an ace from Megne.
 
That momentum carried the Lady Pirates to a 5-2 lead early in the second set, though Norfolk State fought back to tie the set at 6-6. The Lady Pirates answered with a 5-1 run to take an 11-7 lead on a Spartans error, before Norfolk State scored the next four points to tie the set at 11-11.
 
The Lady Pirates broke things open from there with a 7-1 run, taking an 18-12 lead after a kill from Strakova. A kill later in the set from Kocevska gave Hampton a 21-14 lead. Freshman middle blocker Tatyana Thomas (Suffolk, Va.) blocked a Spartans attack to force set point, before Strakova gave Hampton the second set 25-17 with a kill.
 
Norfolk State held a 5-4 lead early in the third set, before the Lady Pirates went on an 8-3 run to take a 12-8 lead after a bad set from the Spartans. Norfolk State closed the gap to 12-10, before Hampton went on a 5-1 spurt to go up 17-11 on a kill from Kraskura.
 
An ace from Kraskura later in the set gave the Lady Pirates a 21-13 lead.
 
Norfolk State cut the lead to 22-16, before the Lady Pirates closed the set – and the match – with three straight points, scoring the final point on a block from Kocevska and freshman outside hitter Ravyn Richardson (Ellicott City, Md.).
 
Hampton hit a match-best .364 (13 kills, five errors in 22 attacks) in the third set.
 
The Lady Pirates will return to Holland Hall on Friday to take on Coppin State at 6 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.