PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Three Eagles finished with double-digit kills as Coppin State's volleyball team took sole possession of first place in the MEAC with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 17-25, 25-17) victory at Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday night at Hytche Center. CSU improved to 11-9 overall and 5-0 in the MEAC while the Hawks fell to 7-11 on the year and 4-1 in league play.
TaKenya Stafford led all players with 14 kills, eight of which came in the fourth and final set, to go with seven digs. A redshirt senior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford hit .316 on 19 attempts in the fourth set alone to go with four digs.
Deviana Walker had her strongest match of the year with a season-high 13 kills on .194 hitting while adding two blocks. The sophomore from Odenton, Md., had six kills apiece in the first two sets as the Hawks keyed in defensively on Coppin's 1-2 punch of Stafford and
Cherisse Atilano.
Atilano posted another double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs while hitting a whopping .500 on 22 attempts. Like Stafford, Atilano also had a big fourth set, recording six kills on nine swings to hit .667 along with eight digs.
Azul Pilahg saw the bulk of the time at setter, assisting on 27 of the team's 57 kills to go with 13 digs for a double-double. The senior from Argentina also added a kill and an ace while quarterbacking the Eagles attack to a .199 hitting percentage.
Andrea Serrano added 14 assists followed by
Andrea Cintron with six and two aces.
Coco Figueroa is now just three digs away from 1,000 in her career, recording a match-high 17 digs. She also came up big offensively with three aces to move her into tenth place on CSU's all-time list with 84, and six assists.
Kayden Cupid was also efficient on the offensive end with seven kills on .429 hitting to go with a pair of blocks.
Ahzhi Coleman led the Eagles with four blocks with
Ayanna Pharoah adding two more.
The defense held UMES to .167 hitting for the match which included a second set where the Hawks had just four kills with five errors.
In the first set, Coppin only trailed after the first point but took control midway through with a pair of runs amounting to seven unanswered points. The Hawks looked to stage a comeback before Walker had a pair of kills over the final four points.
Clinging to an 11-10 lead in the second, the Eagles pulled away with an 11-1 run featuring three kills from Walker and back-to-back aces by Figueroa. Coleman and Pharoah combined for a block to seal the frame, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead for the match.
UMES never trailed in the third to force and extra set, but Coppin played its best in the fourth, recording 19 kills to just five errors on 40 swings to hit .350.
Ivanna Luna came to life with a block and back-to-back kills to give Coppin a 15-9 lead. UMES pulled to within four on two separate occasions but CSU maintained momentum and got a pair of kills from Atilano over the final three points to win it.
Coppin faces a stiff test on Sunday, October 12 when it welcomes defending MEAC Champions Delaware State to PEC Arena for a 1 pm start.
