HAMPTON, Va. – In the first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North-South Challenge, Hampton opened play with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-8 win over South Carolina State in its home opener Friday night.

Hampton used a 601 spurt midway through the first set to take a 16-10 lead and kept that margin going as a Reeana Richardson kill put Hampton up 20-14.   SCSU went on an 8-4 flurry to trim the margin to 24-22 but a service error by the guests gave Hampton the opening set 25-22.

After SCSU tied the second set at 10-all, Hampton scored nine of the next 12 points as a kill by Kyndall Nicholas put Hampton up 19-13.  A Lena Reed-Petracek service ace put Hampton up 25-16 to take set two.

The Lady Pirates jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the third set and the lead grew to 13-4 after Mallory Beard served her third straight ace.  Reed-Petracek had two aces in the final six points as Hampton closed out the win 25-8.

Richardson had 10 kills and two digs to lead Hampton, while Lena Washington and Micah Leavell recorded six kills each.  Reed-Petracek had 18 assists, four aces and five digs, while Beard added 13 assists, three aces and six digs.  Maja Petronijevic topped the team with 12 digs in the home opener.

Hampton returns to action on Saturday in the North-South Challenge at Tidewater Volleyball Center in Virginia Beach as the Lady Pirates take on North Carolina A&T at 11 am and Savannah State at 4 pm.

For more information on Hampton University volleyball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.