HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton volleyball team got to play its first match of the season at home and dropped in three tightly-fought sets to USC Upstate 25-22, 26-24, 25-22 on Friday night inside Holland Hall.

In the first set Hampton went on an early 5-1 spurt to take an 8-6 lead after a kill by Margaret Daramola.  The advantage remained with the Lady Pirates at 18-15 following a Gabby Calloway kill, but the Spartans closed out on a 10-4 run to take the first set.

The second set saw 14 ties and four lead changes as no one had more than a three-point advantage.  Hampton gained a 16-13 lead following a service ace by Leanna Caldwell.  USC Upstate went on a 7-2 run to take a 20-18 lead following a kill by Alexis Mareko.  The final tie of the set came following a Clara Smith kill at 24, but the guests recorded the next two points for the set win.

The final set saw Hampton jump out to an early 9-5 lead forcing a timeout by the Spartans.  That timeout got Upstate going as they ripped off the next nine points.  A Brooke Irvin kill stopped that run to bring Hampton to 14-10.   The advantage for Upstate grew to 19-13 after a service ace by Scout Hoffmeier, but Hampton responded with a 6-1 run to trim the deficit to 20-19 after a Madison Clark kill.  The teams traded points before Upstate got the final two of the match for the win.

Clark topped Hampton with 10 kills, while Daramola matched her season high in kills with nine and had a season-best attack percentage of .615.  Calloway also added nine kills and had five digs, while Julieta Campana nearly had a double-double with 17 assists and nine digs.  Jessica Pugh topped Hampton in digs with 19.

Hampton returns to action on Saturday facing UNC Asheville at 4pm.