Hampton survives five-set thriller with Delaware State
HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team had to work for its fourth straight win, staying unbeaten in conference play after surviving a five-set slugfest with Delaware State 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 15-9) on Friday in Holland Hall.
The Lady Pirates (12-8, 6-0 MEAC) have won seven of their last eight matches overall and are 5-0 at home this season. This was Hampton’s first five-set match since a Sept. 24 win over William & Mary.
Junior rightside Vendula Strakova had a team-high 24 kills and 13 digs for her 12th double-double of the season, while junior outside hitter Krista Kraskura added 17 kills and hit .275.
Junior middle blocker Marija Kocevska and senior setter Bibiany Fonseca each hit a team-best .625 – Kocevska had six kills and just one error, while Fonseca had five kills and no errors.
Fonseca also had 46 of Hampton’s 57 assists, while senior libero Sheileen Pagan added 10 digs on defense.
Jessica Croucher, Edarkis Branch, and Jasmine Jackson each had 11 kills for Delaware State.
The Lady Pirates will return to action on Sunday, closing out their three-match homestand against Norfolk State at 3 p.m. This will be Hampton’s annual “Dig Pink” match, so come on out and wear pink to support the Lady Pirates and raise awareness for breast cancer.
Frazier Sparks NSU over UMES, 3-2
NORFOLK, Va. – Looking dead in the water down 2-0, the Norfolk State volleyball team needed a big spark if the Spartans were going to avoid an upset loss at the hands of UMES on Friday night.
Luckily for NSU, the spark came in the form of outside hitter Janay Frazier. The sophomore tallied a career-high 16 kills and hit a season-best .536 by a Spartan hitter in a 3-2, come-from-behind victory over the Hawks at Joseph Echols Hall.
UMES came out on fire, looking for revenge after the Spartans defeated the Hawks 3-0 earlier in the year. UMES won those first two sets, 25-22 and 25-19, before NSU rolled to a 25-17 win in the third set to stay alive. The Spartans fended off a Hawk comeback with a 25-20 win in the fourth set before pulling away in the fifth, 15-7.
Coralie Jarema ended the match with 12 kills and hit .219. Jessica Johnson posted 10 kills and 12 digs, with senior Goda Jankauskaite adding 14 kills for an offense that hit .210 for the match.
Lauren Berry and Ashley Smith led UMES with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. The Hawks fell to 2-16 overall and 1-5 in the MEAC.
Redshirt junior Noelle Eagles was one of four players for NSU in double figures in digs with 15. Sophomore Darcy Moore tallied 50 assists and 10 digs as well.
UMES’ Jingqiao Li led all players with 22 digs. The Hawks had a 7-3 advantage in blocks.
For complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com or www.umeshawks.com
Richard and Ireigbe pace Coppin State past North Carolina Central
BALTIMORE -- Junior Ariel Richard and sophomore Kendra Ireigbe each had 11 kills as Coppin State extended its home court winning streak to four straight with a 25-11, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21 victory over North Carolina Central on Friday in the Physical Education Complex.
Coppin State, which improved to 7-14 on the season, hit .321 for the match which ranks as the second best hitting performance of the season. The Eagles have topped a .300 hitting percentage in three of the last four matches.
Richard led Coppin State with a .500 attack percentage as she had 11 kills and only one error in 20 attempts, while Ireigbe had a .450 hitting percentage.
The Eagles also received nine kills each from Nicole Malave, Cindy Okpegbue and Kandace Thomas.
Freshman Ellena Torres posted a double-double as she had a career-best 32 assists and a career-high 13 digs.
Freshman Jasmine Burton led three players in double figures in digs with a career-high 17 digs. Malave also added 10 digs for the Eagles.
Coppin State also posted eight blocks as a team led by Ireigbe, Malave and Marissa Freeman who each had four.
Da'sha Brown led North Carolina Central (2-21) with 13 kills, while Kalin Russell had 11 kills and Ashley McCarthy added 10 kills.