HAMPTON, Va. – The 2016 Hampton University volleyball team opens its season on Saturday in Philadelphia, Pa. as they participate in the Temple Invitational held at McGonigle Hall.

Hampton will face preseason Big West Conference top-pick Northern Arizona University at 11 am on Saturday, while they'll also face the host Owls at 6 pm.  Temple was preseason picked second in the American Athletic Conference.

The Lady Pirates are under the direction of first-year head coach Brandon Duvall who took over the team after six years as the head coach at Norfolk State University.   Hampton returns 11 letterwinners from 2015 with Reeana Richardson headlining the returners after a freshman season that saw her earn third team All-MEAC honors last season.  Richardson, who averaged 3.52 kills per set last year, was named to the preseason All-MEAC team this year.

Northern Arizona will be a young squad with 12 of the 16 players being underclassmen, but return three starters who saw significant action in a school record 28-5 season of 2015 that saw them capture the conference title and an NCAA Tournament bid. The Lumberjacks hold a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with Hampton.

Temple is paced by three preseason AAC selections Kirsten Overton, Irem Asci and Izzy Rapacz.  Overton was ranked in the top 25 nationally in hitting percentage last season (.402) and averaged almost 2.5 kills per set with a team best 100 blocks.  This will be the first-ever matchup with the Owls.

You can follow live stats for both matches by clicking here and the Temple match will be videostreamed which can be viewed here.

Hampton will next see action on September 2-3 in the Liberty Invitational in Lynchburg as they face East Tennessee State, Liberty and USC Upstate.
For more information on Hampton University Volleyball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5906 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.