Hampton snaps skid with sweep of Norfolk State
HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University volleyball team emphatically snapped a six-match losing streak Friday night at Holland Hall, opening conference play with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-16) win over rival Norfolk State.
The Lady Pirates (6-8, 1-0 MEAC) hit .421 for the match, with 38 kills and just six errors.
Senior rightside Vendula Strakova led the way with 15 kills and 11 digs, recording her eighth double-double of the season. She hit .481 for the match, recording just two errors. Senior outside hitter Sonja Maksimovic added 11 kills and hit .500 for the match.
Senior outside hitter Krista Kraskura added to a balanced Hampton attack with eight kills and just one error, hitting .467. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Kennedy Kenney hit .400 with two kills in five chances.
Senior setter Kitija Megne had 31 of Hampton’s 35 assists.
After watching their 2013 championship banner drop, the Lady Pirates came out of the gates on fire, hitting .526 (11 kills, one error in 19 chances) in the first set. They held an early 8-3 lead, and that lead grew to 10-5 after a kill from Maksimovic.
Norfolk State (0-13, 0-1 MEAC) cut the lead to 13-9, before Hampton scored the next five points to take a 19-8 lead on a kill from Strakova. The Spartans cut the lead to 20-11, but the Lady Pirates rattled off four straight points, going up 24-11 on a block from Maksimovic and senior Marija Kocevska.
Norfolk State scored the next point, but Hampton clinched the set on the following rally.
The Lady Pirates are 13-6 in three-set matches dating back to the start of last season.
The Lady Pirates head to Baltimore, Md. on Sunday to take on Morgan State at 3 p.m.
For complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com or www.nsuspartans.com
Hawks earn dramatic comeback to defeat Hornets
DOVER, Del. — In what looks to be a challenging MEAC Northern Division, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) learned early on that winless Delaware State would be no pushover. The Hornets would capture the first set and second sets and looked like they would cruise to an easy victory. However the Hawks buckled down and finish off a dramatic three set comeback to defeat the Hornets in five sets. The Hawks improved their record to 8-7 and 1-0 in the MEAC while the Hornets dropped to 0-10.
Facing the 2-0 set deficit, UMES needed to pull out all the stops in order to win. A tight set early, the Hawks would launch a rally previously unseen to that point in the match. With the score at 12-11 UMES, an 8-3 run by the Hawks would prove decisive for keeping their hopes of a first MEAC win alive. A kill by senior Ksenia Sukhareva would finish off the Hornets and stave off a loss by a 25-16 score. The set would prove to be the boost UMES would need to win the match.
Prior to the third set, however, the first two sets ended up being intensely fought battles with DSU emerging victorious narrowly in both sets. A seesaw battle saw the Hornets with the early edge in set one. Delaware State kept a slight advantage thru the midway point and built up a five point lead at 18-13 before UMES put together a rally. Junior Ashley Smith supplied a kill and two blocks from the Hawks tied the score up at 18 all. The teams would battle back and forth once again, trading off points until the very end of the set. With the Hawks forcing extra time, the Hornets benefited from a service error and used a kill by Jasmine Jackson to win the set, 26-24.
It would be the Hawks who would storm out early in set two, using kills by sophomore Sonia Rosales (Victorville, Calif.) and freshman Kirstin Fink to take the lead. DSU would tie the set up before UMES reopened a four point lead at 15-11. The set would continue DSU rallying to force a close match with UMES surging ahead again until a tie at 18. DSU would then take the charge earning three straight points at 21-18. Despite the Hawks rallying again to force extra time again, a 26-24 set final would go the Hornets way.
Set four wound up tied at the midway point with the Hornets seeking to avoid the fifth set and put UMES away for good. Two early runs by the Hawks did not settle the affair, as DSU rallied to force three separate ties. With the score tied at 17, Sukhareva took charge of the serve and delivered a kill to push the Hawks’ lead to three. For the fourth time, the Hornets would drive back to re-tie to match. However, the Hawks would not give away to game so easily as they held DSU in check to win, 25-23, to earn the right to play a fifth set.
In the final set, UMES would fend off DSU’s early serve to earn a 5-2 lead with an ace by Sukhareva and a kill by Smith. But the Hornets would prove to be the worthy adversaries they had been all match long by closing the gap to 8-6 at the change of courts. They would eventually tie at match at ten before UMES called a timeout. The set would stay back and forth to tie it at 13. Needing extra time to decide it, the Hawks would complete the comeback used kills by Sukhareva and Smith to finish off the Hornets by a 16-14, winning the match three sets to two.
Statistically, Sukhareva led the Hawks will 20 kills, and also tied with Rosales for the most aces at two. Sophomore Allison Woods narrowly led in digs with 16 as Sukhareva and Smith were right behind in that category with 15 and 14, respectively. The Hawks beat out the Hornets in attacking percentage at .230 over .122, and also took assists by a 58-44 margin Non-conference foe American awaits the Hawks on Wednesday. Match time is scheduled for 7pm.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com or www.dsuhornets.com
Simon and Rosado lead Bethune-Cookman to win
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Rhea Simon had eight kills and 11 assists while Hazel Ortiz Rosado double-doubled with 26 assists and 12 digs as Bethune-Cookman opened Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 (25-12,25-15,25-19) victory over South Carolina State Friday in Historic Moore Gym.
Jill Arlaud and Delicia Pierre added six kills apiece as the Lady Cats (3-13,1-0) won their conference opener for the first time since 2009. Rakaya Neely posted five kills and seven blocks.
Arlaud registered four kills in the opening as B-CU set the tone early. The Lady Cats never trailed in any of the three sets.
For complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.scsuathletics.com
Richard’s 21 kills not enough in Coppin State loss
BALTIMORE, Md. – Senior Ariel Richard tied a season-high with 21 kills during Coppin State’s 3-1 setback to Morgan State Friday night inside of a rollicking Hill Fieldhouse Friday night in both teams’ Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) openers.
The Eagles (6-8 overall, 0-1 MEAC) battled hard before falling by scores of 26-28, 25-19, 25-23 and 25-14. In addition to her kills, Richard led the Eagles with a .395 hitting percentage. She also had three blocks and four digs. For Richard, it was the sixth time in her brilliant career that she finished with at least 20 kills in a match. She also had 21 kills against Saint Peter’s this season.
Richard upped her career kill total to 1,065. She is 15 kills away from passing Brittany Arvin and becoming the all-time leader in that category in Coppin State volleyball history. Over her last two games, Richard is averaging 19.5 kills per contest.
Meanwhile, Cindy Okpegbue became the fifth player in program history to record her 700th career kill. Okpegbue had 17 kills to raise her career total to 706. Chelsee Sauni had 41 assists and nine digs. It was the seventh time this season Sauni finished with at least 40 assists. Sauni has 2,363 career assists.
Gabrielle Otero, Coppin State’s all-time leader in digs, led the Eagles with 13 digs. Bailee Jackson added eight digs.
The closely contested match featured 32 ties and 17 lead changes. The first and third sets had 21 ties alone combined. Coppin State had set point twice in the opening game and a late 23-22 advantage in the third game. In the fourth game, Coppin State took its final lead of the match, 8-7 following a Richard kill.
Morgan State (8-6, 1-0) has won six of its last seven matches. The Lady Bears had three players finish with double digit kills: Zuri Smith (14), Dinah Jones (13) and Arianna Hayden (double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs). Carmen Fernandez had a match-high 48 assists and Samantha Prescott finished with 14 digs.
Both teams return to action Sunday afternoon. Coppin State plays its home opener against Norfolk State at 3:00 p.m. It’s “Pack The Gym” day and the first 25 fans will receive a t-shirt. Morgan State hosts Hampton at the same time.
For complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com or www.morganstatebears.com