BALTIMORE – Crosstown rivals Coppin State and Morgan State face off Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in the Auxiliary Gym. The two volleyball squads are ready for the second round in the Battle of Baltimore in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division regular season match.
The Eagles (9-10, 3-3 MEAC North) are hoping to rebound from Sunday's 3-1 setback against Howard University (25-21, 20-25, 24-26, 20-25). Coppin State started out strong, winning the first set for the fifth consecutive match but it wasn't enough to hold off the Bison. The Eagles finished with 53 kills, marking the fourth straight match in which they had at least 50 kills.
Junior
Cindy Okpegbue led the team with 18 kills. Freshman
Maya Horner and junior
Kendra Ireigbe combined for 17 kills, nine and eight, respectively. Senior
Kandace Thomas added 12 kills and a .438 hitting percentage.
Junior
Chelsee Sauni dished 47 assists.
Gabrielle Otero recorded 21 digs for the fourth time this season.
Nicole Malave-Adams tied her season-high with 12 digs. Ireigbe also tallied two blocks, bringing her career total to 200, placing her second among career leaders in program history.
As the season has progressed, various Lady Eagles have found themselves ranked among NCAA leaders in various categories. Sauni stands second in the MEAC and 20th nationally with 788 assists. Okpegbue ranks nationally in total kills (28th), kills per set (51st), and points per set (63rd). She stands third in the MEAC for kills (297) and points per set (4.39). Otero is second in the MEAC with 301 digs. Thomas leads the MEAC with a .346 hitting percentage.
As a team, Coppin State is second in digs (1017), third in assists (861), and fourth in kills (905).
Morgan State (11-7, 4-1 MEAC) is coming off a 3-1 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday, Oct. 10. Samantha Prescott finished with a team-high 11 kills and match-high eight digs in the 25-19, 25-13, 23-25, 25-23 win. Zuri Smith tallied 10 kills and a match-high four blocks.
Setter Carmen Hernandez added a match-high 35 assists, six digs, and three kills. Arianna Hayden and Dinah Jones each had eight kills. Haley McClure had a match-high four aces.
Smith sits second in the MEAC with a .341 hitting percentage. McClure and Hayden stand first (31) and fourth (24) in the conference for service aces. McClure also ranks 18th nationally in service aces. Fernandez has 626 assists on the season, which is third in the MEAC.
As a team, Morgan State leads the conference with 105 service aces, ranking 48th nationally. The Lady Bears are second in the MEAC in assists (792) and kills (849).
Coppin State is looking to offer up a serving of payback on its home court.
When the two teams met in September at Morgan State to begin conference play, the Eagles fought hard before dropping a 3-1 decision (26-28, 25-19, 23-25, 14-25).
Ariel Richard tied a season-high with 21 kills. She also had three blocks, four digs, and a .395 hitting percentage.
During the contest, Okpegbue became the fifth player in program history to record her 700th career kill. She had 17 kills on the night. Sauni recorded 41 assists and nine digs. Otero added 13 digs. For the Bears, Fernandez had a match-high 48 assists. Smith (14), Jones (13), and Hayden (11) each finished with double digit kills. Prescott had 14 digs.
The Bears are up for a trying week. Before traveling across town to Coppin State, Morgan State heads to Washington, D.C. to face Howard Thursday night. Both teams only have one loss each in conference play.
Coppin State is back on the road next weekend, visiting Hampton on Oct. 24 at 6:00 p.m. and Norfolk State on Oct. 26 at 3:00 p.m.
