HAMPTON, Va. (Oct. 26, 2014)-Vendula Strakova recorded a match-high 19 kills and had a match-high five service aces, as the host Hampton Lady Pirates defeated Morgan State in their annual Dig Pink match by a score of 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 27-25) in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division match at Holland Hall on Sunday.

Kitija Megne had a match-high 35 assists, while Krista Kraskura led Hampton with eight digs to help the Lady Pirates improve to 13-9 overall and 8-0 in MEAC play.

Morgan State (11-11, 4-5 MEAC), which concluded a six-match road swing with just two wins, dropped its season-long four straight match with the loss. Evely Macedo led the Lady Bears with 10 kills, a career-high four service aces and five digs. Samantha Prescott recorded a match-high 10 digs, while Carmen Fernandez totaled 20 assists, three kills, two aces and two blocks. Dinah Jones finished with a match-high three blocks, giving her a team-leading 52 for the season.

Trailing two sets to none, it appeared as if the Lady Bears would force a fourth set. After using a 5-0 run to take an early 6-3 lead, Morgan State added to its advantage with a 6-0 spurt to extend its lead to 17-10.

The host Lady Pirates used a 5-0 run to get back into the set and pull within 18-16. Morgan State responded with back-to-back points to lead 20-16. Hampton would not go away and even got a little help with two questionable calls from the top referee. After an attack error by Morgan State made it 20-17, Hampton's Strakova went to serve and was awarded an ace on a ball that looked as if it went out. Strakova's next serve, which went further out the right sideline on Morgan's side of the court, too was called in by the top referee, cutting the Lady Bears' lead to 20-19. Strakova's next serve would hit into the net.

Hampton would then put together a 5-1 run to take a 24-22 lead over Morgan State. The guests would even the score at 24 all on back-to-back errors by Hampton. The two teams would trade points with Macedo getting a kill to tie the score at 25-25, but the Lady Pirates would score the final two points on kills by Strakova and Sonja Maksimovic, respectively, to win the set, 27-25. 

Hampton finished the match with 43 kills on 96 attempts for a hitting percentage of .281, 37 assists and 32 digs. Hampton also had nine service aces, but committed 12 errors.

The Lady Bears recorded 28 kills on 90 attempts and had a .122 hitting percentage. Morgan State collected 26 assists and had 29 digs. Morgan State had nine aces and had seven service errors.

Morgan State finally returns home on Friday, Oct. 31, when it welcomes the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to Hill Field House for a 7 p.m. MEAC contest. The match will be the Lady Bears' annual Dig Pink event to help raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. It will be the third straight Dig Pink contest and fifth this season that Morgan State will participate in.