Women's Volleyball | 9/30/2015 10:58:00 AM
BALTIMORE – All home openers should be like this.
Two undefeated teams battling for first place.
Coppin State's recent four-match winning streak will be tested by Howard University Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in a key early season clash between the two preseason conference favorites. The match will take place in the Auxiliary Gym of the Physical Education Complex.
Coppin State, who dropped both meetings to Howard last season by 3-1 counts, has played its first 13 matches away from the friendly confines of its beautiful campus. To get in the mindset of playing, maybe the Lady Eagles might want to ride the vans from their residence halls to the PEC.
"I am really excited to play in front of our fans and in our gym finally," Coppin State senior
Denali Sturgeon said. "I feel that Howard is the team we're going to be competing against all season for the top spot so we are looking forward to playing a great match against a good team with our fans behind us."
Howard, who advanced to the MEAC Tournament championship match last season, has won 11 consecutive Northern Division regular season conference matches dating back to last season heading into Friday's game at Morgan State.
Coppin State enters the match on a roll as it swept the Norfolk State-Hampton road swing for the first time in program history. The Lady Eagles are 2-0 in the MEAC for the first time since 2012. Like a NFL team coming off of a big victory, Coppin State celebrated its first win at Hampton's Holland Hall since 2005 on Monday, but it was back to work Tuesday where the thrill of victory dissipated.
"During our careers here, we've had a lot of historical markers and significant accomplishments," Sturgeon said. "Adding another history-making event like winning at Hampton was important for us. Winning in five sets took a lot of composure and it gives us more confidence as we continue to move through our season."
Coppin State now has its sights set on Howard, which was picked first in the preseason MEAC poll. The Lady Eagles have an opportunity to start a busy week on the right foot and stake their claim as the conference favorite with nine matches remaining.
Throughout the season, Coppin State has received sterling efforts from everybody. It has been somebody different coming through for the Lady Eagles, who have four players ranked among the conference leaders in six categories.
Senior
Kendra Ireigbe is ranked second in hitting percentage and digs. Ireigbe is quietly continuing her assault toward 300 career blocks. She has 283 after finishing with six in each match against Norfolk State and Hampton. Sophomore Glory Rosado is second in digs per set and sixth in aces per set. She had 24 digs against Hampton, the third time this season she has finished with at least 20 digs in a match.
Speaking of stalking sacred standards, senior
Cindy Okpegbue is fifth in kills and fourth in points. She has 1,070 career kills. Okpegbue is 10 away from passing Brittany Arvin's total of 1,079 and moving into second place all-time in school history. Senior
Chelsee Sauni is fourth in assists.
"It's a good feeling to be able to play a home game," Okpegbue said. "People have been asking us, 'when is your first home match'. So it's finally nice to have a chance to show people here what we have and how we've been working together as a team."
What the conference leaders doesn't show is the recent contributions of freshman
Samantha Polk, who had 13 kills against Hampton, and sophomore
Bailee Jackson, who recorded her second double-double this season against Hampton with 13 kills and 11 digs. Jackson has posted double figure digs in six straight matches.
Howard opened MEAC play last weekend by beating UMES and Delaware State. The Bison have been led this season by Dominique Clegett (4th in MEAC in hitting percentage), Khalia Donaldson (4th kills), Morgan Marlbrough (3rd, digs) and Brianna Jackson (9th, assists). Donaldson has produced seven double-doubles to lead Howard. Meanwhile, Tamia Dockery has five double-doubles. As a team, the Bison are 2nd in the MEAC in digs per set (14.48) and third in assists (10.69) and kills per set (11.39).
In a scheduling oddity, all six of Coppin State's home matches are crammed into the month of October. The Lady Eagles will visit Delaware State Friday night at 6:00 p.m. and then immediately return home to host Maryland Eastern Shore Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
