HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team’s second trip to the NCAA Div. I Tournament will be far shorter than the first – at least in terms of mileage.
The Lady Pirates (21-10) will face No. 7 national seed North Carolina on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C. Hampton is making its second straight NCAA appearance after taking on Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. last season.
Coastal Carolina and Southern California will also be in the Chapel Hill pod.
Those four teams are all in the Minneapolis Regional.
The Lady Pirates have won 16 of their last 18 matches – and six in a row – after topping Howard in five sets in the MEAC Tournament title match on Nov. 23. Senior rightside Vendula Strakova, the two-time reigning MEAC Player of the Year, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Strakova leads the nation in total kills (a school-record 678) and points per set (6.59), while her 5.84 kills per set are the second-best average in the nation.
Strakova highlights a quartet of Lady Pirates to be named All-Conference; both Strakova and senior setter Kitija Megne were named First Team All-MEAC, while senior outside hitter Krista Kraskura was named Second Team All-MEAC.
Senior outside hitter Sonja Maksimovic was a Third Team All-MEAC selection.
UNC, which was ranked No. 7 in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll, went 26-2 overall this season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference with a mark of 17-1. The Tar Heels, led by head coach Joe Sagula, have won 17 straight matches.
Chaniel Nelson leads the Tar Heels in kills per set, averaging 2.90 while hitting .315 for the season and averaging 3.43 points per set. Paige Neuenfeldt is the team’s top hitter at .366, averaging 2.00 kills per set. Leigh Andrew (2.59) and Lauren McAdoo (2.54) are also key contributors on offense.
Jordyn Schnabl and Abigail Curry are the top setters for North Carolina; Schnabl is averaging 6.25 assists per set and Curry is averaging 4.99 assists per set.
Neuenfeldt (134.0 total blocks) and Victoria McPherson (122.0) are strong forces at the net. McPherson is seventh in the nation and tops in the ACC in blocks per set, averaging 1.49. Neuefeldt’s 1.46 blocks per set are 12th in the nation and third in the ACC.
The Tar Heels are second in the nation in blocks per set, averaging an ACC-best 3.17 as a team.
The top four seeds in the tournament this year are Stanford, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.