Hampton falls in straight sets to Howard
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hampton University volleyball team fell in straight sets Friday night at Burr Gymnasium, as rival Howard won the match 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-18).
The Lady Pirates fell to 0-17 overall and 0-4 in MEAC play.
Reeana Richardson led Hampton in both kills and digs with eight and seven respectively, along with three blocks, while Tatyana Thomas hit a team-best .556 with six kills and just one error in nine total attacks. Lena Washington added five kills and three blocks.
Kennedy Kenney led with four blocks, while Brianna Lilly had a team-high 12 assists and seven digs.
Howard hit .261 for the match.
Khalia Donaldson led the Lady Bison with 12 kills.
The Lady Pirates will be in action again on Friday, Oct. 16, at Norfolk State.
For complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com or www.hubison.com
Rattlers Slither by Lady Eagles in Straight Sets
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Freshman Whitney White connected for a season-high eight kills to highlight play for the North Carolina Central University volleyball team in a 3-0 Mid-Eastern Athletics Conference road loss at Florida A&M University on Friday night in the Al Lawson Center.
The Rattlers (3-14 Overall, 3-1 MEAC) moves ahead of the Lady Eagles (3-17, 2-2) in the league standings with the 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 triumph.
Junior Kelsey Murphy once again led the Lady Eagles with nine kills and senior Kelly Rossip ripped seven kills as White, Murphy and Rossip accounted for 24 of the Lady Eagles 29 kills.
White blasted her eight spikes on only 16 attempts with just three errors for a team-best .312 hitting percentage. The South Boston, Va., product also tallied a match-high four block assists.
Other leaders for NCCU included junior Casey Curran contributing 23 assists and sophomore Paige Phillips providing eight digs.
Starmichael Tucker led the victors with a match-high 11 kills. Valeria Lopez set up a hot-hitting attack that posted a .326 hitting percentage with 33 assists. Andrea Soriano chipped in six kills and a whopping five service aces. Velentina Carrasco led all players with 12 digs.
NCCU finishes its Florida road trip with a MEAC tilt at Southern Division leader Bethune-Cookman University on Sunday at Noon.
For complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com or www.famuathletics.com
Savannah State drops decision to South Carolina State
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Savannah State University volleyball team (0-23, 0-5 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) fell to South Carolina State University (2-11, 2-3 MEAC) 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-19) on Friday night in Dukes Gymnasium.
Freshman outside hitter Chinenye Ofodile led the team with five kills and with three total blocks, while junior setter Caitlynn Masoe led the team with 14 assists and added five digs and three kills.
Junior middle blocker Gabrielle Nathaniel and freshman setter Brianna Littlejohn each added four kills, while Nathaniel added five digs and two service aces. Junior libero Alexis Washington added five digs.
The Bulldogs were led by Kirby Anderson with nine kills, Melanie Williams with 23 assists and Marissa Lawrence and Brianna Dafney with five digs.
The Lady Tigers return home for a non-conference match against Mercer on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Willcox-Wiley Gymnasium in its only match next week.
For complete story, visit www.ssuathletics.com or www.scsuathletics.com
Hawks sweep past Lady Bears
BALTIMORE, Md. — Their first road MEAC match was going to be a test for the Hawks, as the upstart volleyball team had to face the Morgan State Bears, who rocketed to a 3-0 start in conference play. After an hour and a half match, the Hawks walked out with a grade of “A”, dispensing the Bears by a 3-0 score (25-17, 25-18, 26-24) at Hill Field House in Baltimore Friday.
The Hawks picked up their second conference win of the season (13-3, 2-1 MEAC) as well as the first true road win of the year. Morgan State dropped their first MEAC result of the year (6-12, 3-1 MEAC).
Freshman Zuzana Ondruskova led the Hawks with 10 kills, while fellow freshman Lucia Babic tallied seven kills to go along with an impressive .545 kill percentage. Another first year player, Marta Klafuric participated in a team-high four blocks, while sophomore Alana Polk chipped in a solo block and an assist. Polk also supplied eight kills and earned a team high .583 kill percentage.
Overall the Hawks hit .364 as a team, their most successful percentage as a team.
There won’t be much rest for the UMES volleyball squad as they will challenge Coppin State Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com or www.morganstatebears.com
Coppin State blanks Delaware State
DOVER, Del. – With each set, kill, dig and subsequent victory, Coppin State's wonderful senior quartet of Cindy Okpegbue, Chelsee Sauni, Denali Sturgeon and Kendra Ireigbe will continue adding accomplishments to their historic careers while raising the bar of excellence of the volleyball program.
They may be focused on bigger goals and team accomplishments, but they did pause to acknowledge the significance of Coppin State's 3-0 dismissal of Delaware State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) match at Memorial Hall Friday night. The Eagles cruised to victory 25-9, 25-18, 25-16 to improve their overall record to 6-9 and conference mark to 3-1.
The seniors shined as usual with Okpegbue finishing with 10 kills, the 52nd time in her career she finished with double digit kills in a match. More impressive was Okpegbue's efficient and effective .412 hitting percentage. She was one of three CSU players with at least 10 kills as sophomore Bailee Jackson had a team best 11 kills and freshman Samantha Polk adding 10 kills.
Sauni delivered 29 assists while Sturgeon had five blocks.
However, their immediate focus is Maryland Eastern Shore Saturday afternoon at home in a key match beginning at 3:00 p.m. UMES swept Morgan State, 3-0, Friday night to force a four-way tie for first place with Coppin State, Morgan State and Howard.
For complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com or www.dsuhornets.com