Dover, Del. – Coppin State volleyball clinched the #3 seed in next weekend's MEAC Tournament with a win over the Delaware State Hornets on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles came into the match in play for the #3 and #4 seed, but a UMES victory over Morgan State earlier in the day coupled with CSU's win over Delaware State catapulted the Eagles into the third spot. Coppin was projected to finish fourth in the MEAC North before the season began. Tim Walsh's club exceeded preseason expectations and saw its win total triple from 4 to 12 in 2018.
 
The Basics

• Final Score: Coppin State 3, Delaware State 1
• Records: Coppin State 12-19 (6-4 MEAC) / Delaware State 2-27 (0-10 MEAC)
• Location: Dover, DE – Memorial Hall
• Series History: Delaware State Leads 45-21

How It Happened

1st Set

• DSU used its emotional energy from the pregame Senior Day festivities to dominate the first eight points, 7-1.
• Coppin woke up with a 4-0 rally capped by a Jordan Celestine kill and Hornets timeout, 7-5.
• An 8-4 DSU surge out of the timeout pushed the lead back to six, 15-9.
• CSU made a comeback attempt, crawling back within two on unexpected ace from DeMia Goddard service ace, 19-17.
• The rally fell shy of coming to fruition as the Hornets matched the Eagles 6-6 down the stretch to take the first set, 25-22.

2nd Set

• The Eagles and Hawks were mirror images of its each other through 12 points, with neither side pulling ahead by more than three, 6-6.
• Three consecutive points via kills by Asia Stennis and Celestine, forced DSU to burn a timeout, 9-6.
• A DSU 6-4 run, ending in back-to-back-to-back Hornet points had Delaware State feeling good, so Coppin called time, 14-13 CSU.
• The timeout worked, as Walsh's crew put together a 7-1 answer to take control at 21-14.
• Delaware State outscored Coppin 5-4 over the final nine, but it wasn't enough as CSU squared the match away at one all, 25-19.

 
3rd Set

• The first six points of the third set saw DSU take a 3-0 lead out the shoot, before CSU answered with five unanswered and ten of the next twelve, 10-5.
• The two teams traded blows for a while splitting the next twelve, 16-11.
• Asia Stennis launched 4 missiles to the floor over the next eleven points, as Coppin maintained a six-point 22-16 cushion.
• Coppin would stroll away from the third set sporting a 25-18 win and putting Delaware State on the precipice of a winless MEAC campaign.

 4th Set

• The Lady Eagles began with an 14-8 upper-hand, trying to salt away the Hornets' chances of making a game of it. Delaware State Head Coach Kameron Beans could see his team's confidence evaporating, so he called a timeout to try and rally his troops.
• Coppin State would stay the course, reaching a high-water mark of eight points (20-12), and paving the way for its fourth straight notch in the win column, 25-20.

Inside the Numbers

• The Lady Eagles had three players strike 10 or more kills, with Coleman pacing the club (15), followed by Celestine (14) and Stennis (13).
• Celestine hit a season-high in consecutive performances, one-upping her 13-kill showing against UMES with the 14 tallied in Sunday's contest.
• Kolibar extended her dig streak to eight of ten, topping the Eagles with 10 digs on the night.
• Lang had a spectacular afternoon, providing 44 assists and an 11.0 average assist per set total.
• With 12 victories and a 6-4 MEAC record in 2018, Coppin State has its most conference and overall wins in a season since the 2014 campaign. The team joins the 2012, 2013, and 2014 teams with double-digit wins in the program's 29-year existence.
• CSU has reached double-digit wins despite being the youngest team in the NCAA this season, with 11 freshmen, one sophomore, two juniors and one senior.
• The Eagles have clinched a spot in the MEAC Tournament, which will be held inside Burr Gymnasium on the campus of Howard University. The first round begins on Friday November 16 and will conclude with the championship game at 8 p.m. on Sunday November 18.
• Miajavon Coleman has been a difference maker since she stepped on campus, as she has 396 kills which currently places her fourth in school history for a single season.
• Coleman is on a first season record-setting binge as she is currently on inside the top-three for kills per set (3.77), total points (422.5), and attack attempts (1005) to go along with total kills.
• Brianna Lang is having a setting season that will go down in Coppin lore, she's third in most assists for a single season with (993), had a single-game Coppin State record 64 assists against North Carolina Central and she has already broken the record for most assists as a freshman.
• Lang has accomplished a feat that no other Eagle setter has done in program history, piling up 900 assists and 200 digs in a single season.
• Junior middle hitter Christa Johnson is inside the top-three for individual blocks in a season, finishing the regular season with 89 blocks. She will get a chance to pad her total in the MEAC Tournament while also writing a new page in the Coppin career record books, as she's presently ninth all-time for Lady Eagle volleyball players in career blocks with 139.
• Asia Stennis is currently seventh all-time amongst Eagles players with 664 kills in her career.
• Freshman Libero Chelsie Kolibar rounds out the CSU historical group, as she has racked up the ninth highest dig total in single-season history as she currently sits at 317.
• Mayah Ngundam was the top attacker for Delaware State smashing 11 kills, while libero Nia Scott put together 10 digs to pace the Hornets defense.

Who's Next?

• CSU will be the #3 seed in the MEAC Tournament this coming weekend and will face the #2 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats at 8 p.m. in Washington, DC on Friday.