HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team kicked off a three-match home stand on Sunday afternoon in Holland Hall with a four-set loss to Howard, which won 3-1 (25-10, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23).
 
The Lady Pirates fell to 2-20 overall and 2-7 in conference play.
 
Allysa Medina led the Lady Pirates with 10 kills and nine digs, while Reeana Richardson added nine kills and four blocks, hitting .217. Tatyana Thomas hit a team-best .385, tallying seven kills and just two errors in 13 attacks.
 
Kyndall Nicholas had a team-high nine blocks.
 
Lena Washington and Mallory Beard each had eight digs on defense. Alexandra Erhart had a team-high 17 assists, splitting time with Brianna Lilly at setter. Lilly had 15 assists.
 
Hampton hit .169 for the match, recording 41 kills and 21 errors in 118 total attacks. Howard (14-13, 10-1 MEAC) hit .233 for the match and held a 10-3 edge in service aces.
 
Hampton held a 12-7 advantage in blocks.
 
Medina tied the first set at 5-5 with a kill before the Bison went on a 13-2 run to break the set open and take an 18-7 lead. Howard never relinquished control in the opening stanza, hitting a match-best .522 en route to going up 1-0 in the match.
 
Howard then hit .355 in the second set, even though Hampton held the early 4-3 lead after a kill from Richardson. After that kill, though, the Bison rattled off 11 of the next 13 points to take a 14-6 lead. But the Lady Pirates scored the next four, cutting the gap to 14-10 after a block from Richardson and Nicholas.
 
Howard used a 5-1 run to open up a 19-11 lead, before the Lady Pirates scored six of the next nine points to cut the lead to 22-17 after a block from Nicholas.
 
But the Bison closed the set with a 3-1 spurt to go up 2-0 in the match.
 
The Lady Pirates bounced back in the third set, hitting a match-best .324 (15 kills, four errors in 34 attacks). Howard held the early 5-2 lead, before the Lady Pirates scored 14 of the next 17 points – taking a 16-8 lead after a kill from Medina.
 
Richardson and Nicholas later paired on a block to give the Lady Pirates an 18-9 lead. The Lady Pirates had built up such a lead in the third set that the Bison could never mount a charge as the points wound down, and a kill from Medina cut Howard's lead in the match to 2-1.
 
Richardson gave the Lady Pirates a 4-3 lead early in the fourth set with a kill, before Howard scored five unanswered to take an 8-4 lead. A 7-3 Hampton run later tied the set at 11-11 before Howard went on a 4-1 spurt to take a 15-12 lead.
 
The Lady Pirates fought back, though, tying the set at 16-16 after back-to-back errors from Howard. But the Bison answered with a 6-1 run, opening up a 22-17 lead.
 
Hampton then went on a 6-2 run, cutting the lead to 24-23 before the Bison scored on the following rally to take the set and the match.
 
Khalia Donaldson led Howard with 16 kills.
 
The Lady Pirates will return to Holland Hall on Friday to take on Delaware 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.