NEWARK, NJ—Hampton's Vendula Strakova recorded a match-best 20 kills as the visiting Lady Pirates defeated NJIT, 3-0, in women's volleyball action Friday night at the Fleisher Athletic Center.

Hampton, 19-11 a season ago, won the program's first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular season and MEAC Tournament title while advancing to the first round of the 2013 NCAA tournament. 

The Lady Pirates won their fifth straight match Friday, taking the Highlanders 25-22, 25-19 and 25-23, while improving to 15-9 on the season, while NJIT dropped to 8-20.

Strakova, the Lady Pirates senior right side hitter, finished the match with a .419 hitting percentage notching 20 kills on 43 swings with just two errors.  Strakova, playing her third season at Hampton after transferring from University of San Francisco, has compiled 513 kills on the season, ranking the senior from the Czech Republic first in the nation in total kills and second in kills per set (5.64).

Following Strakova's 20 kills were senior outside hitter Krista Kraskura with 9 and Sonja Maksimovic 7.  Senior setter Kitija Megne recorded a double-double, piling up a match-high 30 assists while adding 10 digs.  Libero Allysa Medina led the Lady Pirates defensively with 11 digs, Megne 11 and Strakova 9.

NJIT, which hit .232 for the match, was led by junior Danica Vukotic with a team-high 9 kills, while twin sister Nina Vukotic and senior outside hitter Fran Edmondson each recorded 8.  Freshman middle Kat Janssen hit .714 for the match with 5 kills on 7 attempts with no errors.

Freshman setter Alyssa Armada collected 27 assists, 9 digs and 4 total blocks (all assists) while Danica Vukotic led the match with 12 digs on the defensive end.  Edmondson added 8 digs.

Senior middle Valerie Carroll combined for 7 total blocks (all assists) followed by Armada's 4 block assists and 2 block assists from Danica Vukotic.

In the first set saw 14 ties and 6 lead changes with the final tie coming at 22 on a kill by Hampton's Strakova.  The Lady Pirates scored the final three points of the frame for a 25-22 victory.  Strakova recorded 10 kills in the set.

The second frame remained close through the mid-teens. NJIT led 15-13 until the Lady Pirates rallied off seven straight points for a 20-15 lead. After taking a timeout, NJIT scorrf the next 3 points, closing the gap to within three, 18-21. But Hampton sealed the deal on a 4-0 run for a 25-19 win.

In the final set, the action went back-and-forth, with neither team leading by more than two points.  Down 13-15, the Highlanders scored 4 straight points to pulling ahead of the Lady Pirates 17-15.  In the stretch of four points for the Highlanders, Janssen recorded two service aces. 

After a timeout by Hampton, the Lady Pirates scored the next three points for a 19-17 advantage.  NJIT's Danica Vukotic put down a kill for a one-point game, 19-18, but the Lady Pirates extended its lead back up to three, 22-19, after a kill by Krista Kraskura. 

The Highlanders went on a 4-1 run, pulling within one of Hampton, 23-24, on a Nina Vukotic kill, but the Lady Pirates put the match away with block assists by Kennedy Kenney and Strakova on the final point for a 25-23 victory.

The Highlanders will return to action on November 5 at 7pm against Fairleigh Dickinson. The two teams met earlier in the season on September 17 in Teaneck with the Highlanders taking a 3-1 road victory from the Knights.