Hampton, Va. (Oct. 18, 2013) --- The Delaware State University volleyball team put up a good fight before falling to MEAC North leader Hampton 3-2 this evening. The Hornets won the first game 25-17. The Pirates bounced back to win games two and three, 25-22 and 25-17, respectively. DSU stayed alive in the match with a 25-21 victory in game four. The Pirates took the deciding fifth game 15-9 to win the match and improve to 6-0 in the MEAC this season (12-8 overall).

Vendula Strakova led Hampton with a match-high 24 kills and 13 digs. Krista Kraskura added 17 kills, while teammate Fonseca Bibiany topped all players with 46 assists.

Jasmine Jackson, Edarkis Branch and Jessica Croucher shared the team high with 11 kills each for Delaware State. Branch also led DSU with 13 digs, while Taylor Marshall topped the team with 22 assists.

The Hornets trailed game one 5-1 before storming back. DSU scored 11 of the next 12 points, and opened up a 12-6 lead on a Hampton error. Delaware State opened up a 20-13 lead on a kill by Croucher. DSU led by no less than five points the rest of the way to claim the opening set.

In game two, the Hornets led 21-20 after an attack error by the Pirates. The score was 22-22 before Hampton scored the last three points to even the match at 1-1.

The Pirates used a late run to win game three.  The score was 15-15 before the Pirates scored 10 of the last 12 points to take and game and open up a 2-1 lead in the match.

Delaware State put forth a late run in game four to even the match.  The Hornets trailed the game 15-9 before head coach Kisya Killingsworth called a timeout to regroup the team. DSU responded by scoring nine of the next 10 points, and opened up an 18-16 lead on a Hampton attack error. The Hornets pulled ahead 24-19 lead on a kill by Jackson.

DSU had a .200 attack percentage in the match (44 kills/19 errors/125 attacks), compared to .272 for the Pirates (62/22/147). Hampton held a 46-43 edge in digs, while the Hornets won the blocks battle, 19-8.

Delaware State fell to 1-15 overall and 0-6 in the MEAC.

The Hornets begin a two-game home stand on Sunday against UMES. The match gets underway at 3:00 p.m. Bethune-Cookman will visit Memorial Hall on Monday for a 7:00 p.m. contest.