RIVERDALE, N.Y. – With a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 26-24) win over Manhattan Thursday evening in Draddy Gymnasium, the Hampton University volleyball team extended its winning streak to four matches.
 
The Lady Pirates (14-9) have won nine of their last 10 matches overall.
 
With the win, head coach Karen Weatherington now had 96 career wins as a head coach – 33 of those wins coming at Hampton.
 
"Tonight's match versus Manhattan College was a great opportunity for us to step out of MEAC play and see a different style of volleyball," Weatherington said. "The highlight of today's match was definitely Tatyana Thomas and her breakout performance. She was phenomenal. That's incredible play, especially this time of the season. We are so proud of her; she's coming into her own at just the right time."
 
Senior rightside Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic) led the Lady Pirates with 18 kills and a team-high 17 digs for her 14th double-double of the season, to go along with five blocks and a .273 hitting percentage.
 
Freshman middle blocker Tatyana Thomas (Suffolk, Va.) added a career-high 10 kills and five blocks, hitting a match-best .769, while senior middle blocker Marija Kocevska (Skopje, Macedonia) had a team-high six blocks and hit .571, with four kills and no errors.
 
Junior libero Allysa Medina (Menifee, Calif.) added 13 digs, while senior outside hitter Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) added 11 digs on defense.
 
Senior setter Kitija Megne (Kuldiga, Latvia) had 40 assists.
 
The Lady Pirates hit .283 (46 kills, 12 errors in 120 attacks) for the match, while holding the Jaspers (15-10) to just .183 hitting. Hampton also held a 13.0-8.5 edge in team blocks.
 
Hampton hit .343 in the first set, racking up 16 kills and committing just four errors in 35 total attempts. The Lady Pirates led 12-9 after a kill from Kraskura, and senior outside hitter Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) added a kill later in the set to put Hampton up 15-11.
 
Manhattan closed the gap to 18-16, before the Lady Pirates went on a 5-1 spurt to take a 23-17 lead after a kill from Kraskura. The Jaspers scored the next two points, cutting the lead to 23-19, before a kill from Kraskura and a set error from the Jaspers gave Hampton the first set.
 
Manhattan took a 7-3 lead to open the second set, before the Lady Pirates went on a 6-2 run to tie the set at 9-9. The Jaspers scored the next three points to take a 12-9 lead, before Hampton responded with a 7-3 run to take a 16-15 lead after a kill from Maksimovic.
 
After Manhattan tied the set at 16-16, the Lady Pirates scored five of the next seven points, going up 21-18 after a block from Thomas. The Jaspers fought back to cut the lead to 21-20, but a 4-1 spurt to close the set gave Hampton the 25-21 win.
 
Hampton hit a match-best .368 (18 kills, four errors in 38 attacks) in the third set, despite the Jaspers holding control for much of the frame. Manhattan led 13-9 at one point, before the Lady Pirates used a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 14-13 after Kocevska and Megne paired on a block.
 
Manhattan later took a 24-21 lead, forcing set points and looking to avoid the sweep. But a kill from Thomas kicked off a 5-0 Lady Pirates run, a spurt that included a kill from Strakova, a solo block from Strakova, and a block from Strakova and Thomas.
 
With the Lady Pirates looking at match point, Manhattan committed an attack error to close out the sweep.
 
"We played hard tonight and stepped up our defense to come back from 21-24 with two great solo blocks by Vendy and one kill," Weatherington said. "Those all-out effort plays with incredible ball control is what makes this a championship team.
 
"I am so proud of this unit and the things they continue to accomplish."
 
The Lady Pirates will be in Newark, N.J. on Friday to take on NJIT at 7 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.