BALTIMORE, Md. – The senior duo of Vendula Strakova and Krista Kraskura led the Hampton University volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-27, 25-14, 25-18) against Morgan State on Sunday afternoon at the Talmadge Hill Field House.
 
The Lady Pirates improved to 7-8 overall and 2-0 in MEAC play.
 
"I'm so proud of this group and how well they performed in this hard-fought match," head coach Karen Weatherington said. "We know coming in that Morgan State had been very productive offensively; we really wanted to focus our efforts on defense, and that translated in our blocking and dig total."
 
Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic) led the Lady Pirates with 24 kills and 12 digs, recording her ninth double-double of the season while also hitting a team-best .474. Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) added 15 kills           , while senior setter Kitija Megne (Kuldiga, Latvia) had 42 assists and a team-high three aces.
 
Junior Allysa Medina (Menifee, Calif.) had a team-high 13 digs.
 
Hampton held a 48-43 edge in digs and led 13.0-7.0 in team blocks. This came on top of the Lady Pirates hitting .342 (51 kills and 13 errors in 111 attacks) for the match and holding Morgan State to just .130 hitting.
 
The Lady Pirates led 6-3 early in the first set after a block from seniors Marija Kocevska (SkopjeKarpos, Macedonia) and Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia), but Morgan State went on a 5-2 run to tie the set at 8-8. Morgan State later held a 13-11 lead, but Hampton went on a 6-2 run to take a 17-15 lead.
 
Morgan State tied the set at 17-17, before the Lady Pirates scored six of the next seven points, taking a 23-18 lead after a pair of Lady Bear attack errors. A kill from Strakova closed out the set and gave the Lady Pirates a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lady Bears held an 8-6 lead early in the second set, before the Lady Pirates rattled of seven straight points to go up 13-8 after a kill from Strakova. Megne and freshman middle blocker Tatyana Thomas (Suffolk, Va.) teamed on a block later in the set to give Hampton a 16-10 lead.
 
A Strakova kill later gave the Lady Pirates a 20-14 lead, before Morgan State (8-7, 1-1 MEAC) went on a 10-3 run to take a 24-23 lead. Kraskura answered with back-to-back kills to put Hampton up 25-24, before Morgan State scored the last three points to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Hampton hit .412 in the second set, before hitting a match-best .444 (10 kills, two errors) in the third set. An ace from Kocevska gave the Lady Pirates a 10-6 lead in the third set, before Morgan State fought back and cut the lead to 12-9.
 
The Lady Pirates answered with a 7-3 run, taking a 19-12 lead after a kill from Kraskura. Morgan State stopped the run on the next rally, cutting the lead to 19-13, but Hampton scored six of the last seven points in the set to take a commanding 2-1 lead in the match.
 
That momentum carried over into the fourth set, as the Lady Pirates took a 7-3 lead after a Morgan State attack error. Morgan State fought back to tie the set at 11-11, before the Lady Pirates went on a 7-2 run to take an 18-13 lead after Kocevska and Strakova teamed on a block.
 
Morgan State cut the lead to 20-16, before the Lady Pirates scored five of the next seven points – taking the fourth set 25-18 after a solo block from redshirt freshman middle blocker Kennedy Kenney (Milpitas, Calif.).
 
"Vendy and Allysa controlled the court and defended some great shots," Weatherington said. "Sonja, Marija, and Kennedy were very productive at the net. We're worked hard on executing our blocking system in the preseason, and I'm excited that our hard work resulted in a win against a very good team."
 
The Lady Pirates will return to Baltimore, Md. on Friday to take on Coppin State at 6 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.