HAMPTON, Va. – In perhaps the most raucous environment Holland Hall has seen in years, the Hampton University volleyball team dispatched rival Howard 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22) on Sunday afternoon to stay unbeaten in MEAC play.
 
The Lady Pirates (9-8, 4-0 MEAC) have won four straight matches overall and 13 straight over Howard.

"Today's win over Howard was a great milestone for us," head coach Karen Weatherington said. "We definitely had the help of the 7th Player: the crowd."
 
Senior Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic) recorded yet another double-double, her 11th of the season, leading the team with 22 kills and 19 digs. Seniors Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) and Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) also had double-doubles with 11 kills and 11 digs each.
 
Junior Allysa Medina (Menifee, Calif.) added 10 digs, and senior Kitija Megne (Kuldiga, Latvia) had 39 assists.
 
Hampton outhit Howard .190 to .169 and held a 61-58 edge in digs. The Lady Bison (9-9, 2-1 MEAC) held an 11.0-7.0 edge in team blocks and 7-6 in service aces.

"I think the attendance by Hampton and the fans from Howard made for a fun environment and gave us the extra boost we needed," Weatherington said. "After the big win on Friday on the road (at Coppin State), I knew we might be a little flat. It's hard to recreate the feeling of a big win, and we needed to focus on the details in order to be successful."
 
Hampton took a 5-1 lead early in the first set after an ace from Kraskura, and she added back-to-back kills later in the set to give the Lady Pirates a 10-6 lead. Howard cut the lead to 13-10, before Hampton rattled off three straight points to take a 16-10 lead after Strakova and redshirt freshman Kennedy Kenney (Milpitas, Calif.) teamed on a block.
 
Maksimovic recorded a kill later in the set to give the Lady Pirates a 20-13 lead, before Howard went on a 7-3 run to cut the lead to 23-20. A Howard error forced set point, and Kraskura added a kill two rallies later to give the Lady Pirates the first set, 25-21.
 
Howard hit a team-best .297 in the second set, jumping out to an 11-4 lead to steal the early momentum. The lead grew to 18-9, before Hampton went on a 10-4 run, cutting the gap to 22-19 after a kill from Strakova.
 
But Howard scored three of the next four points to take the set and tie the match at 1-1.
 
The Lady Pirates responded after the intermission, to the tune of a .423 hitting percentage (14 kills, three errors in 26 attacks) in the third set. They jumped out to a 6-2 lead to open the set after an ace from Medina, before Howard clawed back to cut the lead to 7-6.
 
Howard later cut the lead to 10-8, before the Lady Pirates rattled off eight of the next 10 points to take an 18-10 lead on a Howard error. The Lady Bison hung around and cut the lead to 20-15, before Hampton closed the set on a 5-2 spurt to clinch the set after a kill from Strakova.
 
That momentum carried into the fourth set, as the Lady Pirates took an 8-4 lead after a block from Kenney. Howard fought back to tie the set at 9-9, which would be the first of six ties in the set. Hampton responded by scoring the next three points to take a 12-9 lead, then the Lady Pirates later led 14-11.
 
The middle portion of the set was a series of spurts from both teams, including a 14-14 tie, and the Lady Pirates led 21-17 after a block from Kennedy and Kraskura. Howard scored the next two points to cut the lead to 21-19, before Hampton scored on the next rally.
 
Howard then scored three of the next four points, cutting the lead to 23-22, but Strakova ended the spurt with a kill, before Howard committed a ball handling error on the next rally to give the Lady Pirates the final point.
 
Strakova now has 1,413 career kills at Hampton, leaving her 59 kills shy of tying the all-time program record, held by Chavanca Hoskins (1,472 kills from 2003-06).

"We put together a great performance, considering we had a few miscues," Weatherington said. "Kennedy's work at the net helped us with five blocks. I was so proud of Summer Humes, who came under pressure to score when we needed it to change the momentum. It was another great team effort."
 
The Lady Pirates will return to action on Sunday, when they head to Princess Anne, Md. to take on Maryland Eastern Shore at 3 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.