WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team fell victim to revenge of sorts Tuesday evening at Kaplan Arena, as William and Mary won 3-0 (30-28, 25-22, 25-18) to hand the Lady Pirates their first loss of the season.
 
The Lady Pirates (3-1) have still won eight of their last 11 matches to wrap up in straight sets.
 
"I give credit to William and Mary," head coach Karen Weatherington said. "They picked us apart and took advantage of our block. We relied on our block last weekend, and they scouted us to pick up on that."
 
Senior Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic), fresh off being named the AVCA Div. I National Player of the Week, turned in another strong effort, tallying a match-high 20 kills and nine digs, hitting .302. Senior Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) notched her fourth straight double-double to open 2014, racking up 14 kills and a team-high 13 digs.
 
She hit a team-best .542.
 
Senior Kitija Megne (Kuldiga, Latvia) had 43 of Hampton's 49 assists.
 
"I'm happy that we maintained our offensive production," Weatherington said, "but we didn't have as strong a defensive effort. We were coming off a challenging travel weekend, and we have another short turnaround so we don't have time to dwell."
 
Despite falling in straight sets, the Lady Pirates found themselves in a tight, hard-fought match – one that featured 35 ties and 15 lead changes. Eighteen of those ties came in the first set, as the Lady Pirates and the Tribe (2-2) struggled to gain control.
 
Hampton hit a team-best .333 (20 kills, seven errors in 39 attacks) in the first set, and Strakova had 11 errors in the opening stanza. The Tribe appeared to have control when they took an 11-8 lead in the first set, before the Lady Pirates rattled off four straight points and took a 12-11 lead on a Strakova kill.
 
The two teams spent the rest of the first set unable to get away from each other, never be separated by more than one point. Senior Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia) gave the Lady Pirates a 25-24 lead with a kill, but William and Mary answered with two straight points to take a 26-25 lead.
 
The two teams then exchanged points on five straight rallies, ending with Hampton tying the set 28-28, before the Tribe scored the last two points of the set to take a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lady Pirates jumped out to a 5-2 lead to open the second set thanks to a kill from senior Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia), before the Tribe answered with a 5-1 run to take a 7-6 lead. Hampton scored the next three points, taking a 9-7 lead on a kill from Kraskura.
 
A Strakova kill later in the set ended a back-and-forth stint similar to the first set, giving the Lady Pirates a 13-12 lead. But the Tribe scored six of the next eight points to go up 18-15. William and Mary kept control through the rest of the set to go up 2-0.
 
The third set was tied 5-5 before the Lady Pirates rattled off four straight points to go up 9-5. The Tribe answered with a 6-2 swing to take a 12-11 lead. A 3-1 Hampton spurt gave the Lady Pirates a 14-13 lead after a block from Strakova.
 
Kraskura later added a kill to give Hampton a 15-14 lead.
 
William and Mary went on another 6-2 run to take a 20-17 lead, and Strakova ended that run with a kill to bring the Lady Pirates within two. But the Tribe responded by scoring the last five points of the match.
 
"We're doing great things as a team," Weatherington said, "so we'll focus forward and move on."
 
The Lady Pirates will be in Harrisonburg, Va. on Friday and Saturday for the James Madison Invitational. 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.