BALTIMORE – Warning, make sure you have top-of-the-line health insurance when watching the Coppin State volleyball team this season.
The Eagles have specialized in dilly-dallying with the cardiovascular systems of their fans throughout their memorable season. Yet through all of the adversity, storms and frustrating moments, the Eagles have always shrugged things off and moved onto the next game, point or match.
With their 2014 season on life support, the cardiac Eagles stayed true to form by staging a rally to remember to extend their season by another day. Despite dropping two of the first three sets, Coppin State won the last two to claim an exhilarating, 3-2 victory over Bethune-Cookman Friday morning in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) quarterfinal masterpiece in the Physical Education Complex.
"I am very happy that we won," Coppin State head coach
Ashley Preston said. "BCU is a very good team and that's why they're the No. 2 seed because they execute their game plan. I am just happy my girls finally showed up because we were sleeping."
Coppin State (14-13 overall) claimed the match 16-25, 25-20, 12-25, 25-18, 15-11.
After a head-scratching third set that took 19 minutes, the Eagles never trailed in the final two sets. CSU raced to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set and spent the rest of it holding off the Wildcats, who pulled to within, 10-9. However, they never caught the Eagles.
It wasn't exactly the way the Eagles thought they'd be advancing to the semifinals for a second straight season, but hey, at this time of the year, it's all about winning. The Eagles will meet Northern Division rival and co-regular season champion Hampton Saturday morning at noon.
Once the fourth set started, a different Coppin State squad emerged. The three-minute break between the third and fourth sets was the perfect tonic the Eagles needed to finally find their groove.
"The difference in the match for us was we got in the huddle and looked around at each other," Coppin State junior
Cindy Okpegbue said. "We realized that we don't have time to not let the seniors get to the championship. We came together as a team and it worked."
The Eagles balance has been their strength all season as well as Okpegbue's sterling play. She recorded a match-high 22 kills. It was the 10th time in her career that she finished with at least 20 kills in a match. Okpegbue recorded five kills in the decisive fifth set and had a team best .400 hitting percentage.
However, it was far from a one-woman show for Coppin State.
Freshman
Maya Horner was a monster on the outside for Coppin State, finishing with a career best 16 kills. Horner was instrumental in helping steady Coppin State's attack as recorded five kills in the third set. Seniors
Ariel Richard and
Kandace Thomas combined for 17 kills.
The Eagles really shined on defense finishing with a season-best 83 digs. Senior
Nicole Malave-Adams had a career best 24 digs to lead four Coppin State players that finished with double digits in that category. Senior
Gabrielle Otero had 18 digs. Junior
Chelsee Sauni and freshman
Bailee Jackson had 12 digs each for the Eagles.
The Wildcats were paced by Delicia Pierre's double-double of 15 kills and 13 blocks. She also added a match-high four blocks. Destiny Hudson collected 13 kills for Bethune-Cookman. Normaine Rolon had a team best 23 digs for the Wildcats.
"We knew if we didn't get it together and turn it around that this would be our last match," Malave-Adams said. "We weren't trying to be shagging balls over the next two days so we just all came together especially myself, Kandace, Ariel and Gabby. It didn't matter what we did in the first three sets, we just had to come together as a team and get it done."
With Coppin State displaying its trademark character, heart and poise while giving its supporters some extra strands of gray hair and shorter nails, the Eagles earned a third chance at solving the Hampton riddle this season.
