Women's Volleyball | 9/3/2015 10:19:00 AM
BALTIMORE – Coppin State will be facing some Texas-sized competition during the two-day Hampton Inn Waco North tournament hosted by Baylor University.
The combined record of their opponents is 8-2. Coppin State (0-3 overall) opens against Cal-Poly (3-0) on Friday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The Lady Eagles conclude the weekend on Saturday against Baylor (2-1) at 11:00 a.m. and Sam Houston State (3-1) at 5:30 p.m.
Coppin State has never played any of the schools in this tournament. There will be live stats of each match. However, only Coppin State's game against Baylor will be streamed live for a fee of $9.99.
"I am really excited about this weekend," Coppin State senior
Kendra Ireigbe said. "I love playing against strong competition and going against the giants. I like the fact we're going to Baylor because I get to see my half-brother (Greg Jr.). He hasn't seen me play volleyball. Playing in this tournament will help us compete at a higher level. It'll help us once we begin MEAC conference play."
Last weekend, the Eagles dropped matches at the Towson Invitational to Manhattan, Towson and Tennessee. Despite those setbacks, there were some positives that Coppin State expects to continue building on as the season progresses.
There was also a cause for celebration last weekend as
Chelsee Sauni notched her 3,000th career assist and was named to the Towson all-tournament team. Sauni was just nominated for the Senior CLASS Award. Ireigbe became the all-time school leader in blocks. The soft-spoken Ireigbe is nice off the court, but resembles Terrance Howard's character Luscious on the court: ruthless, dominant and somebody to be feared.
"I didn't expect to hold a blocking record, but it's exciting now that's a reality" Ireigbe said. "Blocking is one of my favorite things to do. It's a great feeling when you a block and shut somebody down."
Ireigbe leads the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in blocks per set (1.20). She is also seventh in the conference in hitting percentage (.247) and points per set (3.25). Overall, Ireigbe is second on the team with 25 blocks. As a team, Coppin State leads the MEAC in blocks per game (2.10 per game) and they are third overall in hitting percentage (.130), assists (10.20) and kills (10.60). They had 14 blocks against Towson Sunday afternoon, which was a season best.
Sauni is third in the MEAC in assists per set (9.00). She finished with 40 assists and 11 digs against Manhattan. Senior
Cindy Okpegbue is fifth in the MEAC in kills per set (3.50) and points per set (3.90). She had 17 kills against Manhattan. Freshman
Marlena Guice, who had a strong collegiate debut with 11 digs and nine kills, is 10th in hitting percentage (.222). Sophomore Glory Rosado is fifth in digs per set (3.90).
Here's a brief look at Coppin State's competition this weekend"
CAL POLY (3-0): Cal Poly volleyball freshman outside hitter Adlee Van Winden was named the Big West Women's Volleyball Freshman Player of the Week after combining for 28 kills and 14 digs in a pair of season-opening victories over San Jose State and Sacramento State. Hannah Schleis (22 kills, five blocks through two matches), Taylor Gruenewald (23 kills, nine blocks), and Savannah Niemen (20 kills) were selected to the 12-player San Jose State Invitational All-Tournament Team. Through the season's first three matches, sophomore setter Taylor Nelson has 141 assists – the most among any Big West Conference player – and an average of 10.85 assists per set.
BAYLOR (2-1): The Lady Bears finished second in the Colorado State Ram Classic. The only loss was a 3-0 decision to the 12th-ranked Rams. Leading Baylor last weekend was
Andie Malloy and
Katie Staiger, who were named to the Rams Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team. Malloy had her third double-double of the season and 19th of her Baylor career. In the 3-2 win over UC-Davis,
Amy Rosenbaum had her first double-double of the season with 30 assists and 10 digs and ninth of her career.
Shelly Fanning hit a team-high .375 against UC-Davis with 12 kills and three errors in 24 attacks. Baylor was picked sixth in the Big 12 Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Bears have five players with at least 20 kills led by Malloy and Staiger, who have combined for 79 kills. Morgan Reed and Rosenbaum have 65 assists each to pace Baylor's offensive attack.
SAM HOUSTON STATE (3-1): Led by Brooke White, who was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the Bearkats finished second last weekend at their Invitational Tournament. The Kats' only loss came in five sets to defending Conference USA champion UTSA. The Bearkats won in three sets over Tulane and Prairie View A&M and four sets versus Montana State. White totaled 59 kills and had a hitting percentage of .255. She posted double figure kills in each match with a high of 17 in the UTSA loss. She also accounted for 34 digs and three blocks on defense. White leads the Southland Conference kills. Jordyn Vaughn has 49 kills for Sam Houston State and Shelby Genung, who was also named to the all-tournament team, has 25 kills and a team-best eight blocks. Michelle Griffith leads Sam Houston State with 169 assists.
