CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Hampton University volleyball team got off to a strong start Friday evening in Carmichael Arena, but North Carolina came back to sweep the Lady Pirates 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-7) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Pirates wrapped up the season with a mark of 21-11.
“It was a tough match today,” head coach Karen Weatherington said. “We’re really proud of the way we prepared, and we were really happy to be here in Chapel Hill. We just had one of those runs, and we didn’t have our best today.”
Senior rightside Vendula Strakova, the two-time reigning MEAC Player of the Year, led the Lady Pirate with 13 kills. She ended her Hampton career by registering double-digit kills in 73 straight matches, dating back to Oct. 12, 2012.
Strakova also had a team-high 10 digs for her 21st double-double of the season. She ended the season by recording four consecutive double-doubles and eight in her last 10 matches.
“We did what we could,” Strakova said. “We fought for it. It’s clear this is a different level, but we did all we could.”
Senior setter Kitija Megne added 17 assists. Senior outside hitters Krista Kraskura and Sonja Maksimovic had nine and eight digs, respectively.
UNC, the tournament’s No. 7 overall seed, hit .300 for the match and held a 13.0-2.0 edge in team blocks. The Lady Pirates, with 21 kills and 21 errors, hit .000 for the match.
The Lady Pirates led 4-1 to open the first set, and a kill from Megne a couple rallies later put Hampton up 5-2. The No. 7 Tar Heels rallied to the tie the set at 7-7, before the Lady Pirates scored five of the next six points to go up 12-8 on a UNC attack error.
“That’s normal for us,” Weatherington said. “We’re able to jump on teams, we’re a great serving team. (We) try to push teams to a slow start … I thought we started off with good defense and attacking.”
A kill from Strakova gave Hampton a 13-9 lead, before the Tar Heels scored the next eight points to take a 17-13 lead. A kill from Strakova later in the set cut the lead to 18-15, but UNC ended the set with a 7-3 run to take the frame 25-18 and go up 1-0 in the match.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 4-2 lead to open the second set, before the Lady Pirates fought back and tied the set at 5-5 after a kill from freshman middle blocker Tatyana Thomas (Suffolk, Va.). A few rallies later, Strakova tied the set at 7-7 with a kill.
Megne added a kill on the next rally to give the Lady Pirates an 8-7 lead.
UNC answered with a 10-2 run to take a 17-10 lead, but a kill from Maksimovic later in the set cut that lead to 20-14. The Tar Heels scored the next four points to take a 24-14 lead, before back-to-back Hampton points cut the lead to 24-16.
But the Tar Heels scored the next point to take the set and go up 2-0.
Hampton scored the first three points of the third set, taking that 3-0 lead after an ace from Megne. But the Tar Heels scored the next 11 points to break open the set and take an 11-3 lead. A UNC error later in the set cut the lead to 16-6, but UNC closed the set on an 11-1 run to clinch the win and advance.
“I think we could’ve done a better job on offense,” Kraskura said. “We’re a very smart team, and I think that’s where we were lacking a little bit today, like we were trying to do too much.”
The sting of this year’s NCAA loss was sharper than a season ago at Stanford.
“We didn’t have any idea (of what to expect) last year, heading to Stanford,” Weatherington said. “But this year, we knew … we’ve been watching ACC volleyball all year, we knew what (UNC’s) middles were capable of. It stings. We didn’t play our best volleyball today.”